


Wolfsteele

by Jaydpuppycat



Series: Magic and Myth [1]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Big Bad Wolf AU, F/M, Fairytail, Fantasy, Gajeel curses a lot, Red Riding Hood Elements, fairy tail - Freeform, slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-06
Updated: 2018-04-17
Packaged: 2019-01-30 02:42:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 45,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12644493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jaydpuppycat/pseuds/Jaydpuppycat
Summary: Slowburn and Fluffy Big Bad Wolf AU. A twist on the little red riding hood story where the wolf doesn't bite... much, featuring Gajevy with some small nudges towards Nalu, Jerza, Gruvia and Laxus/Mirajane. Some violence rated, crude language, and panic attacks that turn violent.Two hunters are cursed by witches running a forest where people go missing and strange animals run amok. A curious alchemist finds a wolf that is surprisingly smart and befriends him despite all the warnings. Can a maiden in a red-hood and her wolf overcome the obstacles before them?I do not own these characters, just the story. Characters belong to Hiro Mashima.Updates on Weekends (Sat or Sun)





	1. Wanted: Hunters for Hire

“Quit yer bitchin’! I got us a job so get off my ass, Lil’,” grunted a dark-haired man clad in dark leathers, carrying a broadsword, and possessing several sheathes along his stained leather leggings. His favorite bar stool creaked as the man crossed his arms indignantly, red eyes glaring at a similarly dressed hunter, this one with a scimitar peace-tied at his waist and a dark bandana around his neck.

  
“Gajeel, it had better not be a labor job again. I couldn’t walk for two days after the last time,” Lily growled while rubbing his temples tiredly. Lately the jobs were few and far between, usually consisting of some odd job requiring repairs or field work. Sadly, nothing they found to do was as exciting as what the pair had been offered in other parts of Fiore, but the adopted brothers were too broke to travel much now.

  
The crew at The She-Devil bar in Magnolia had grown accustomed to the rowdy mercenaries over the years, and happily provided them a place to collect jobs, spend their hard-earned money, and blow off steam. Unfortunately, they were also the cause of quite a few brawls with the locals, and the head barmaid was quite adept at showing her displeasure with the pair of boisterous young men in various ways. Secretly though, the hunters were sure that she enjoyed the disruptions as she had an excuse to join in the fun and take a few shots of her own.

  
“Not my fault ya fell off a roof,” Gajeel huffed indignantly. Lily only afforded him an annoyed stare before ordering another drink from the aforementioned barmaid. “Now don’t get worked up, Lily, it’s a beast hunting job. Apparently, there’s a snake monster terrorizing the forest ‘tween Magnolia and Hargeon and it’s only a matter of time before it kills someone,” Gajeel summarized while also signaling for another beer.

  
“Well now, that’s definitely something different. I thought these woods were supposed to be quiet?” questioned Lily. He procured one of his many boot knives, a brilliant shade of red metal with filigree, and started twirling it around in his hands. The man’s dark eyes looked thoughtful as he watched the blade spin on the bar top, at least until he heard an annoyed huff from the other side.

  
“They usually are, but some say that dark magic has been working there lately,” the barmaid chimed in with a menacing tinge. “Lily please put that away. You remember what happened last time.” She just smiled brightly, her white hair almost like a halo surrounding an angelic face but the air seemed to grow darker. Lily gulped and shoved it back into his boot quickly. He still had a scar on his left shoulder from the last incident involving his dagger that may or may not have stabbed a prized painting.

  
Seeing the red metal safely tucked, the barmaid continued, “Rumours are going ‘round that it may be witches.” She set two mugs in front of the hunters, “Here you go! One for the Black Steel Gajeel, and one for dear Pantherlily.”

  
“Thank you, Miss Mirajane. Mind telling us more about witches?” Lily asked the platinum -haired barmaid. Gajeel just grunted his thanks and curtly nodded at the barmaid to continue with her story. The foam was starting to roll down the side of the wooden tankard, so the red-eyed hunter indulged himself while the other merely held his close.

  
“Well there isn’t much to tell, just some rumours floating around and reports of people going missing in the woods. You two be careful out there. I don’t want to lose my two best patrons,” Mira sweetly said, eyeing the two rough but handsome young men. Gajeel grunted mid-drink while the other hunter blushed into his mug. A brief frown crossed Mira’s face, “Elfman thinks the two are connected anyway…”

  
Lily sees the sorrowful look and immediately tries to console her, “Aww, cheer up Mira. We can try looking around again when we are out there. I’m sure she will turn up soon.” The barmaid took a deep breath and gave a small smile. She mouthed thanks and turned around to grab a couple things on the shelf behind the bar. He couldn’t be sure, but Gajeel could have sworn he heard a small sniffle. When she turned back around, Mira wore a large smile as if frowns never existed.

  
“Thank you again,” Mira beamed. “I appreciate what both of you did when we found out.” A loud eruption of voices interrupted them as a blonde man strode through the door. “Oh! Laxus is back,” the white-haired woman cheered, nearly glowing.

  
“About damn time. He’s been gone for weeks,” Gajeel finally gruffed. “Stupid thunderhead.” The man took another swig from his mug and turned away from the door with the blonde.

  
“Now, now. Your just upset because he swiped that good-looking job in Clover Town,” Lily taunted.

  
“No, pretty boy has the best face to punch in a brawl,” the red-eyed hunter scowled. Mira gave him a disapproving glare. “What? He’s one of the few that can keep up with us.” Gajeel crossed his arms and sat a little stiffer on his stool, a slight creak echoing his shift.

  
With a wide smile, Mira turned to Gajeel and darkly giggled, “Gajeel, if you break another chair this week or start another brawl in here, I will hunt you down and dismember you.” A dark shadow passed over the angel’s face a split second before she smiled sweetly towards the tall broad man with short blonde hair, leaving Gajeel choking on his beer and Lily doubled over in hysterics.

  
“I swear the devil’s a woman and she’ll stay true to her word,” Gajeel sputtered, clutching his throat.

  
This only served to fuel the laughing man’s bellows, a shaking hand leaving a healthy tip for Mira. “I… hah… would pay to see that! Hahaha,” wheezed Lily.

  
“Oh, come off it, buzzkill,” a seething Gajeel growled. Looking in the direction Mira ran towards, he saw Laxus and a brute of a man with the same color hair as the barmaid.

  
The Strauss siblings were a well-respected family in the area and were quick to root out problems in the community. Elfman, the brother, was an ex-monster hunter that retired after a nasty fight with a troll. The troll’s skull is still proudly hanging over the bar’s mantle at the cost of a jagged scar on Elfman’s face. Mirajane is the eldest and earned the name ‘She-Devil’ from her time in the military, a true terror to all she faced. After several years, she was forcibly retired into Magnolia. Her superiors still have scars from barring her from the war room, one of which was standing beside her with a gouged line tracing over the right side of his serious face. They had a younger sister, Lisanna, who was a sickly child but a brilliant tactician when it came to defending the town. She once routed an entire company of men using only props and twenty of the townsmen.  
However, Lisanna went missing about a couple months previously while traveling to a monthly appointment in Hargeon. Many searches, including their own, came up empty. The two remaining siblings have their reserves as to if she is still alive, Elfman being the more determined to stay optimistic. Mirajane tries, but her time in the military has warped her sense of loss and gives her a more pessimistic view.

  
The siblings and blonde were currently in a deep discussion about something dire, providing an excellent moment for Gajeel’s payback. He readied a punch to the still heaving Lily’s side. An ominous crack filled the air before he could land a hit and both men crashed to the ground. Rubbing their arses they cursed and found themselves surrounded by the remains of the wooden stools.

  
Both men shared desperate glances then looked towards Mira. Death was written across her angelic face and a black aura seemed to emanate from her. “RUN!!”

  
The two men scrambled to their feet and sprinted for their lives. They were already out on the street before an inhuman bellow resounded. “GAJEEL! LILY! I WILL FIND YOU! WHEN I DO, YOU BETTER PRAY TO MAVIS WHILE YOU CAN.”

  
Toothy grins sprouted from both men as they hear the promise of inevitable doom after their next paycheck. “I bet another month before she actually decides to kill us,” Gajeel cackled, running past the familiar corners and trees to their cottage.

  
“I’ll take that one and raise you a week,” chuckled Lily. Mercenary work was not for the weak.


	2. The Hunt Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I get to subject you to more brotherly banter, Mwhahaha! The hunters begin their search for the giant snake monster and end up in more unfortunate circumstances.

The sun was setting up a spectacular display the next evening as two leather-clad hunters headed to the heart of the woods.  They had been walking non-stop from Magnolia for half a day after spending the first resupplying and packing equipment. Now it was getting rather late.

“We have about an hour before sundown, Gajeel,” Lily stated, eyeing the sky for signs of rain. He had donned his bandana around his face to silence breathing and aid in tracking their target while Gajeel brought up the rear to listen for any signs of attack. Lily may be the sneakier of the two, but Gajeel had better tracking skills. Luckily, the day remained clear into the evening but one could never know when the winds will change. “Are you done writing in your diary?” the younger sneered, observing his brother quickly put away a rough leather-bound notebook.

“For the last time, it’s a journal, not diary,” scowled the red-eyed hunter. “’Sides, that’s plenty o’ time ta skin a snake,” he grinned wolfishly.  “Question is, are we there yet?” After a half-day’s travel, the two were itching to start hunting, Mirajane’s wrath be damned. They were going to make it back for a decent meal.

“I hate when you do that,” groaned an annoyed Lily, “You read the flyer. What did it say to look for?” He dropped in line with Gajeel when he heard paper unfolding. On the front was an exaggerated artist’s rendition of a snake with gruesome proportions with half a hunter in his mouth. ‘REWARD’ was emboldened across the top with a small paragraph of lettering on the bottom.

“I dunno… take the back route to Hargeon, pass a stream, some markers on some trees, head north and pass a giant snake,” Gajeel drawled sarcastically. He yelped as Lily punched his arm, “Hey!!”

Lily just snorted, “Smart-ass.” Nimbly he snatched the flier for himself and read while trotting ahead of the chuckling Gajeel.

A few more minutes passed and the sound of running water caught the hunters’ attention. Once they cleared the brush, a reasonably wide creek meandered through patchy clearings. Grinning, Gajeel readied himself and then rushed towards the water, jumping near effortlessly and clearing the stream, albeit narrowly as a splash of water hit the back of his legs. However, Lily stalled and paled at the sight of water and made no move to get close.  “Do we have to cross here? Isn’t there a bridge down the road?”

“We make better time going through here.” Lily still wouldn’t budge, sweat forming at his temples, “Tell me you’re not still scared from last time, Lily? That was ages ago,” an exasperated Gajeel whined.

“I still have nightmares, Gajeel! You used my love of kiwis to trick me into being bait, AGAIN,” snarled Lily, flexing his fist.

“I told ya I was sorry! I bought you a mountain of ‘em after! There aren’t any gators in this one, promise,” pleaded the red-eyed hunter. When Lily still didn’t make a move, Gajeel pinched the bridge of his nose, “Just cross the damn stream, Lily.”  The hunter just crossed his arms and glared indignantly at Gajeel. “What? Do ya want me to carry ya?”

Looking away, Lily nodded curtly and huffed, “That way they can bite your ass and not mine.”

“Ya sure yer name ain’t Pussycat instead of Panther? grumbled Gajeel as he waded across the stream to fetch his brother, “Ya owe me for this. Ya know how much I hate getting my boots wet.”

 After an uneventful trip across the stream and several ‘see? I told you’s,’ the brothers wove through more brush for several more minutes before there was a clearing, yellow ribbons tied to some of the tree trunks.  “This must be the place to turn North,” Gajeel stated as he pointed across the clearing. “Let’s hurry and find this damn thing, I’m hungry.”

“Well tonight should be a full moon, so it should be easy to make it back to town. Unless you want to camp out here tonight,” teased the masked hunter.

Quirking a brow, the red-eyed man replied, “And be out here with witches, hell no! I want to kill this thing, maybe eat some and head back. I’d rather deal with a known devil than a witch.” The thought of facing Mira sent a shiver down his spine, not unnoticed by Lily as they travelled across the clearing.

“I swear you are motivated by food, fear, and sometimes stupidity,” the younger hunter taunted.

“You can just shut yer trap. I’m not the only one doing stupid things, kiwi-breath,” growled Gajeel.

The other man just gawked and looked down and away.  “At least I don’t run towards every buffet I see,” Lily muttered.

“It’s food, and mostly free! And it was only poisoned the one time.” Gajeel defended.

“Uh-huh,” Lily said in a deadpan voice, “And you couldn’t stay out of the washroom for three days.” He side-stepped a gnarled root and sighed, “Just remember that we really should come back tomorrow to take another look for Lisanna.”

“Yeah… I hate seein’ Mira like that.” Gajeel closed his eyes at the thought of the frail white-haired girl he used to carry on his shoulders. Suddenly he stilled as he heard a faint rattle of leaves. “Stop.”

Gajeel turned to a bush at the edge of the clearing just as a rustling was heard, readying his blade. Lily heeded his warning with his own steel and intently watched the foliage. The movement intensified after a couple seconds until a small figure launched out of the shrub with intense ferocity at Lily.

“You were startled over a damn bunny,” Lily chuckled as he held up the captured rabbit, “guess we found dinner, or it found us rather.”

His laughter died in his throat as a crimson flash flew at them both, barely missing as they dodged just in time. Rabbit forgotten, the two readied into a stance to defend and sized up their target.

In the setting sun, the scales of the beast seemed to be on fire, adding to its intimidating length and size.  It could easily be about the size of a man or more, and could definitely swallow one whole. Looks like the artist knew what they were drawing about after all.

It had swiveled towards Lily following the scent of the rabbit and hissed with fangs as large as daggers, glinting a stark white against its maroon skin. Lily stared with deceivingly calm panic, weapon readied as the snake looked ready to lunge. A forked tongue flicked out and the snake’s body began to sway mesmerizingly.  Unconsciously, Lily started to sway as well.

The serpent didn’t even pay much mind towards the other man on it’s right, well not until he took a swipe at its side. A high-pitched hiss reminiscent of a scream escaped from the snake, swerving around and lunging at the attacker. Gajeel held up his broadsword in hopes to counter and a resounding chime of fangs hitting steel echoed in the clearing.

Lily maneuvered to the snake’s right side, dodging its flailing tail, and chucked a rock that made its mark on the beast’s jaw. Taking the opportunity, Gajeel tumbled away from the stunned snake to get his footing again. Rising up from its stupor, the serpent leveled its eyes at Lily and hissed with an open mouth, exposing fangs the size of a man’s arm.

He noticed one of the eyes was discolored and the same shade of its fangs. “Gajeel,” Lily shouted, backing away from the towering snake, “It’s blind in its right eye!”

Sure enough, there was a long scar running over its milky right eye. “Right, keep it distracted Lil’!” No sooner had the words left his mouth, Lily dodged another lunge by the serpent. In frustration, the monster rose to its full height and splayed out its hood for all to see. A series of dark glyphs were branded into its skin that led to a central point on its neck where the hood opened. This center was marked by a silver gemstone imbedded in its flesh.

With a hiss, the snake lunged at the masked man relentlessly and started a very complex dance of dodging snake fangs, “GAJEEL! Are you trying to kill me, asshole? Why the hell am I the bait again?” The man dropped to the ground and rolled away from the agitated beast. “I really, REALLY hate you right now,” ranted a reasonably upset Lily, “I better get a shit-ton of kiwis and beer for this!”

“Yeah, yeah. Quit bitchin’ and hold out for one more minute,” Gajeel cursed more to himself, climbing the nearest tree in the snake’s blind spot.  The sound of ringing metal makes him pause mid-ascent, watching as Lily grappled fangs with his scimitar while still on the ground. The snake then gave a low hiss when Lily connected a kick to the jewel in his neck, dropping the sword and recoiling backwards.  The creature retreated slightly as the hunter regained his sword and balance. The snake became more guarded compared to his offensive maneuvers. Every slash by Lily was now being dodged as the creature tried to look small, lowering his hood. Still hissing, the snake was now on the defensive, actively trying to flee. “Oh, no ya don’t,” Gajeel grumbled, “I want dinner tonight and I’m not goin’ to track ya down again.”

The beast was acting strangely now, almost desperate to get away. Catching the sight of the gem on its chest, Gajeel saw that it had a hairline crack in it. _Well, it started acting weird after getting hit there. Must be important._ An idea jumped into Gajeel’s mind as he finished his climb. “Lily back up,” he shouted as he pulled one of the daggers lining his leggings and lined up a shot.

Wide-eyed, Lily barely moved back in time before Gajeel threw the dagger straight at the beast. He heard the blade’s whisper as it flew past his head and another hissing scream. The black steel made its mark dead on the gem, shattering and driving the creature to writhe on the ground. Still embedded, the dagger glinted in the final moments of sunlight as the red scales stilled with splashes of a new shade of crimson.

“WOOOO!!” Gajeel cheered, nearly slipping off his perch. Climbing down, he ran towards Lily to celebrate.

His cheers were lost with Lily’s mixture of shouting triumphs and rage. “You pull that stunt again and I will leave you to the wolves,” growled Lily, earning him an exasperated groan from the red-eyed hunter.

“Hey, you’re not hurt are ya? Then call it a win,” grinned Gajeel. “We both know your faster than me anyway,” he shrugged, dusting his leathers of the bark chips from climbing. The masked hunter just swore incoherently as Gajeel headed over to Lily to check for damages.

“Okay, as true as that is, you put me on the spot again and I will frame you for stealing,” snarled Lily, swiping at his brother’s worried hand.

“Been done before,” the red-eyed hunter quipped with an eyeroll, grappling his brother to check for bites and scrapes. Luckily, Lily has excellent reflexes and seemed uninjured.

“From Mira,” the younger brother challenged with a sly grin. Gajeel balked at him and Lily used his stunned response to slip loose from his hold. He quickly dusted the dirt off himself unceremoniously and stuck his tongue out at his brother.

“Ah that’s low, even for you,” the older hunter choked. “Bah, whatever. Let’s grab our prey and go since ya dropped dinner earlier.”

“The rabbit? I kinda had other things on my mind at the time!” Lily waved his arms exasperated. “Giant snake, remember?”

Grabbing his stomach, Gajeel grumbled and turned to the snake, “But I’m starving, let’s see how snake tastes…. What the hell??”

The other hunter followed his line of sight and both looked towards the crimson cobra in confusion. A bright glow had animated from the body of the giant snake until a blinding light engulfed it. A few dazzling seconds passed, leaving behind the body of a man with hair the color of the serpent’s scales and the blade still imbedded in his chest.  On his face and body are what look to be silver piercings in intricate patterns tracing an underlying tattoo, very similar to the cobra’s hood. Shock is the best word to describe the two baffled hunters as they cautiously approached the prone man.

“Lily, did we just kill someone?” asked a dumbfounded Gajeel. He had gone pale and ran a hand through his long shaggy hair. The world seemed to start crashing down around him at the thought. Lily seemed to be having the same thought as well. “No, this can’t be right. Oh Mavis, what did we just do.”

Nearing him, they strained to see any sign of life but leapt backwards before reaching him, hearing phantom laughs ring through the woods around them. Alert, the brothers stood back-to-back and scanned the area until they spot six figures in the clearing behind them.

A man and five individuals clad in dark cloth were staring with bemused smiles.  The man had angular features and long dark hair while the others were hooded in shadow. “Looks like you bested our most recent experiment, well done! We only strive to improve and what better way than to collect strong warriors who prove themselves. Soon we will have the perfect army of weapons to take down the council,” the man mused. Shadows seemed to be swirling around the man, and extending like fingers to the woods and figures behind him.

Spitting at the stranger, Gajeel growled, “Ya must be stupid to think we’d be ‘collected’ fer ya weirdos’ experiment. Who are ya?” Broadsword and scimitar were readied, waiting for any movement.

“Us? We live here. And you just killed our pet,” the man grinned mischievously. “It’s only right that we get compensation for our property lost.”

“Compensation? This thing terrorized people for months!” Lily snarled.  He glanced at the man and asked, “What did you do to him?”  That’s all it took. A look away and the man was casting a spell aimed straight at him. Lily braced himself once he saw it, but the blow never came.

He opened his eyes and standing in front of him was Gajeel. He had the dark shadows swirling around and through him. With a thud, the man dropped to the ground, unresponsive. As stubborn as his brother was, Gajeel was always doing stupid things to save him.

A single tear fell, lost to his mask, as he stared at his brother’s vulnerable body in front of him. He couldn’t tell if he was breathing or dead and that terrified Lily. Rage started to replace shock, building rapidly as he readied a level stare at the man.

“Easy. Same thing you and your companion are going to face,” a wicked grin spreading over the man’s face. He pointed at Gajeel’s prone form. “Look at this one, tsk… so loyal. We know exactly what he can be. Mwhahaha!” The figures silent against his cackles of madness. Lily was speechless, but prepared for the man’s next sneak attack and narrowly dodged a black wave of shadow magic. “But what to make you? Good reflexes on you, we can work with that!” Turning towards the cloaked figures he laughed, “Please relieve our useless pet of his trinkets while I handle this one.”

Finally snapping at the utter disregard of life, Lily charged the man with a roar.

Two figures floated towards the downed red-head and kneeled over him with palms hovering over his chest. With a wave of their arms, the piercings decorating his body were ripped from him. The silver studs raced towards the outstretched hands of the cloaked figures, leaving the man with fresh red blood as they abandoned his body to the forest.

Meanwhile, Lily was ferociously seeking his own crimson reward, swiping and slashing at a man that seemed to blend with shadows. Enraged, he became faster at the cost of recklessness. All he could see was a vision of running his sword through the man. After several more failed attempts, the shadow-man suddenly rushed Lily and put his palm on the masked hunter’s forehead. “I win.” With one phrase, both hunters succumbed to the darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting a day earlier, and this one's a bit longer than the last chapter. I hope you enjoy!


	3. Bittersweet Breakout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gajeel finds himself bound in a room with witches. Will he be able to free himself before whatever witchcraft awaits?

“Hurry…..it’s almost dawn! We do not have much time left…..”

The sound of frantic female voices came in and out of focus as Gajeel stirred. A buzzing in his skull was making it hard for him distinguish between the two or three he heard. _Mavis… It feels like I was kicked by a horse._ A small groan escaped him as he shifted slightly, his body not quite responding like it should as he tried to roll over.  A seemingly delicate touch was felt on his shoulders and bridge of his nose as he was righted.

Something wasn’t right here. His eyebrow was cold and his body was tingling, no… thrumming oddly if not painfully at various points along his body. Then his nose started to get cold… as if the woman’s touch was sapping the warmth from him and leaving a numbness behind.

A sharp pain above his left eye brought him fully to the world of the waking, forcing a pained yelp out of him. “Come on! He’s waking up!” Growling, he cracks the other eye open to see two of the cloaked figures from before hovering above with odd tools. One was still holding his nose with an icy touch while the other was painfully prodding his semi-numb eyebrow. It was hard to focus on the witches but caught sight of blue and purple from under their hoods while animal masks covered most of their faces.

“We haven’t done two at one time before…,” said the witch holding his nose. Blue locks fell down to her black and gold sea otter mask as she finally released his nose, “Last one is iced!”

Panic seized him as the purple witch in a black and silver reptilian mask bent over him again and sent another sharp pain into his nose, a scream escaping from him. “Hurry we are out of time, where is the collar?” A muffled reply answered as Gajeel’s mind started buzzing with waves of pain, then the previous female voice yelled, “Shoot, I’ll go get one!”

A wave of rage and desperation fueled by pain washed over Gajeel as he began to struggle to move his body. He jerked his arms to get away from the masked women, but soon realized why he couldn’t move. He felt ropes pulling on his wrists as he lifted his chest away from whatever surface he was on. He could feel blood dribbling down his fresh wounds as he started to thrash in his restraints.

“Hurry! He’s getting out of control!” The purple witch left his view out a door in a sprint while the blue one tried to push and hold him down by the shoulder. On instinct, he lunged at the arm holding him and clamped his teeth down, sinking until he felt fabric and flesh tear.

A metallic taste filled his mouth. A deafening scream rang through his ears. A new pain formed as the girl put her hand to Gajeel’s face, a scalding touch forcing him to let go. Through squinted eyes, he watched the blue witch fall to the floor and scamper into a corner of the room, cowering. Tears left small silver streaks on the otter mask as she clutched her blood-soaked arm close and whimpered curses.

Teeth bared and eyes now open, his head swiveled around as he tried to move his arms, catching the fact that he was indeed bound to a wooden bed in a bare room. He began thrashing, gauging any weakness in his restraints. Fortunately for him, the witches didn’t think he would be conscious and had loosely bound his hands and legs to the bed posts.

Struggling slightly, he twisted his wrists until he snapped the rope free. The ropes on his feet were easily removable afterwards and he turned to the witch still quivering in the corner near the closed door, nearly missing the ‘click’ of a lock. “You… need to… to get out, stranger,” she whispered hoarsely, her trembling getting more vicious. “You won’t have long… before your… trapped here too.”

 “I don’t understand. Why are ya tellin’ me to escape now? Weren’t ya just trying to pin me to that sorry piece of wood ya call a bed?” Gajeel asked, flabbergasted.

“Just… go… please…” the blue-haired witch wheezed, her azure eyes cutting into his garnet ones. He had only a moment to think before the door thudded. 

Stunned by her words and startled by the door, Gajeel looked for escape routes in panic. Other than the shoddy bed he was bound to, there was only the tools the figures were holding on a table opposite the bed, the door on the other side of that and a small window behind the injured witch, who was now shaking violently. The woman was gasping for air and hissing through clenched teeth, every breath sounding more forceful than the last.

Then if things couldn’t get weirder, the masked woman started shrinking. _The hell?_ The hunter rubbed the blood off his left eye, but the sight before him was still there. The witch was **_melting_** into the floor. Looking up one final time, the otter-faced bluenette met him with a smile tinged with sorrow and guilt. A calm sigh of relief echoed as the last of her body melted, leaving a heap of cloth where she once was. Gajeel couldn’t help but stare transfixed at the silvery liquid slowly leeching into the wooden floor.  

A splintering sound announced the arrival of witches breaking through the door, pulling his attention away from the disturbing vision.  The reptilian one from earlier started to wiggle through the broken door, holding a collar with a silver gem imbedded in it. Taking his chances, Gajeel turned and jumped at the window above the otter’s cloak as another witch came through and rushed to subdue him. Glass shattered around him as the window pane easily caved in under his weight. Jagged glass edges and long finger nails cut into him as he found himself falling much farther than anticipated.

Gajeel landed roughly on his side, a pained groan hissing out as he rolled to a kneel. Looking up, he saw the reptile and a silver owl mask scowling at him before vanishing from the broken window of a second-story cabin. Grunting, he started limping towards the tree line of the dark forest while noting the faint light of dawn coming. _I need to get the fuck out of here to cover before the sun’s up…damn this shit hurts._ With no time to stop, he willed his legs to move faster despite obvious pain shooting up from his shins.

He passed by grove after grove of trees, heading as far away from the wooden cabin of his captors as possible. A gurgling sound caught his attention as he wove through a dense patch of brush and felt some relief at finding the deep wood border with no one on his ass. Unfortunately, a stray root took its opportunity from his distraction and treated him to an involuntary dirt bath.

Groaning and panting, Gajeel righted himself to a sitting position and braced himself on a tree. Now that he was sitting, he looked to his legs that were straight up killing him now and cursed.  Blood had coated the woolen pantaloons that only now he realized replaced his armour and gear. Lifting the leggings up, he saw several shards of glass poking out as well as a line of silver studs traveling along his legs. Carefully he plucked out the glass and then went for the piercings, only to be shocked by an unknown force.

Gasping, he grasped his knees until the pain subsided, noticing that he also had blood running down his arms from glass and piercings as well. He passed a quick hand over his face, feeling smooth metal bumps of various sizes over his eyebrows, nose, chin, lip, and to his surprise, tongue. Sticking his tongue out, he caught the metal pole in his teeth, immediately regretting as a pulse of pain shot through his mouth. _What the hell did they do to me?_

A chill ran through his mind as the shadow-man’s voice filled the air, “You can run and hide, but know we still have your companion. Let’s see how loyal the big bad wolf is, Mwhahaha!” Searching for the source, Gajeel whips his head around to spot any figures and sees nothing before what the man said clicked.

_Lily! Shit shit shit, what do I do?_ _I need to go get help—_

Gajeel stops dead in his tracks as sharp burning sensations began to overwhelm him. At first it was a tingle, then it progressed to an uncomfortable heat. He glanced down at the piercings and saw them glow, same as the one that enveloped the cobra-man. The glow started to cover his body like a veil, outwards from the piercings until not an inch of skin was left. Within seconds the heat grew and his body felt like it was on fire, a brilliant white light surrounding him. His skin felt like it was ripping, his bones breaking, and mind becoming undone until he let out a cry of agony at the waking sun.  The shining light lead to slumbering darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm actually updating! On the right day! Though I may change my schedule for either day on the weekend... at least I'm consistently updating ;p This chapter was pretty fun, the masks were actually a last minute thing. I felt it gives you guys a chance to guess at who the witches are, if you haven't already figured it out. Unfortunately, they don't make a reappearance for a few chapters, BUT we get to see Gajeel handle some issues. Then a Levy sighting will happen after, so stay tuned!  
> Thanks for sticking with me so far, I really hope you guys enjoy this as much as I did making it. Later chapters are going to be longer. These first few are more like an intro than anything. Feel free to message me or comment, my tumblr is @jaydpuppycat and @puppycatales.


	4. Food and Fur

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gajeel gets to figure out a few new things and also how to get himself out of the predicament he and Lily are in.

The noon sun brightly shown overhead through the branches of a large oak not too far from an unconscious body. The warm rays were slowly rousing Gajeel from a dream where women wore masks, his brother fought off snakes, and traces of brilliant blue peeking through a dark foggy haze. The wind tickled against his face, tracing the ridges and gently waking the hunter. Earthy smells filled his nostrils as he took a large inhale before cracking open an eye.

Green shrubs and dark wood met his eyes. Not the first time he’s slept outside, especially on a hunting trip. The sound of a stream babbled nearby and Gajeel let out a large yawn, closing his eyes again. He shifts slightly, the position he was in feeling awkward. More sounds of the forest reached him. Chirping of the songbirds, rustling of the oak tree leaves, rushing of water traveling past, and the chittering of busy squirrels. His ears felt rather itchy today.

With another yawn, Gajeel stretched luxuriously and heard at least several pops, inwardly groaning at the stiffness. _Gotta tell Lil’ we need to make a tent next time. Can’t sleep out here without some sort of pallet._

Reaching out, he tried to pat around to find his brother. No warm spots around him and his ear was still itchy. _Where’s Lily?_ Another large yawn and he finally opened both eyes to scan the area. _Didn’t we make camp?_ A few moments pass by as something finally registered in the back of Gajeel’s groggy mind. Last night’s events came rushing back to him in perfect clarity with all the subtlety of a bucking horse. _SHIT!! LILY!!_

A howl echoed from behind him. Startled, he jumped away from it only to lose balance and land on his side again. _What the fuck is going on?!_

He swiveled around and saw nothing but trees and bushes. He struggled to sit up and keep balance, eyes scanning the area. Then he heard a low whine from a dog behind him and froze. A very big dog from the sound. He eyed the tree-line in his as his head spun around. _Where is it? Last thing I want’a be is dog chow._ He scowled and in return heard the growl of a very large canine, very close. _Shit, shit, shit!!_

The desperate hunter scrambled and clawed his way towards the sound of water and away from the odd canine noises. Once he spotted the stream, he made a lunge towards the stream bed and ended up tumbling down the slope, landing on his face.  He heard the dog yelp and looked around again. _Did I trip over it??_ _Doesn’t matter, gotta get across so I can get away!_ Unfortunately, he lost his balance again and stumbled to the water’s edge. Then he saw it.

Staring at him from the water’s reflection was a large black wolf. It was nearly the size of a bear! Silver markings decorated its face and shoulders. A set of sharp canine teeth poked out from under its lips. What caught Gajeel’s attention most was the red eyes piercing through him. His own eyes. 

 _No._ He looked down at his hands and saw nothing but black fur tangled around him. _NO, NO, NO!_

He tried moving his hand and one of the paws responded in kind. In panic, he started backing away and succeeded in falling backwards into an awkward pile of limbs. Sticking in the air, where his feet should be, are paws, and behind them was something fluffy. It twitched and swished.

 _This is wrong, I’m dreamin’. Oh Mavis, please let me be dreaming._  

He rolled to his side as best he could and squeezed his eyes shut. _I’m not a damn wolf. This only happens in stupid fairy tales. Oh Mavis. Please._  

Gajeel took a deep breath, cracked his eye open, and peered at his hands in hope. Still only black fur. Reality crashed down on him like a block of iron and he curled into himself, letting all of it sink in. _What the hell did they do to me? I’m a fucking mutt. Like the snake-guy… that we killed…Mavis… how did we get into this…_

His stomach grumbled after a while and unwillingly drug him back from the depressive spiral in his head. It felt like he hadn’t eaten in days… _What am I supposed to do? I’m hungry, Lily is bein’ held captive, and I can barely freakin’ walk!_

He huffed loudly and another rumble was heard. _Well, guess I better figure this out soon…_

The wolf glanced down at his hands (er…paws?) again.  He noticed his previous injuries were either well hidden in the fur or were gone, as well as all the piercings. Lifting his paw, he ran it over the other arm, feeling nothing under the black and silver fur. However, sharp black claws caught his attention as the airborne paw touched back on the ground. Flexing both front paws, he watched with some fascination as he clawed the earth and felt the dirt between his toes. The pads of his paws felt odd, stiff and not quite like fingertips, but he could feel the difference between the hard mud of the creek bed and the rocky sediment lining the actual creek.

His damn ear was still itchy. Grumbling, he reached out towards the water to get the mud off, shaking his paw once the water hit it. _Damn that feels strange…no wonder cats get weird around water._ Lifting his paw, he attempted to scratch his ear but fell short when his arm refused to lift past his nose. _Yer kiddin’._ He tried laying down and shifting enough that he managed to rub it more than scratch it, bumping his snout in the process. The contact was enough to send him into a sneezing fit.

_Great, am I allergic to myself or what?_

Then it hit him. All the smells nearby. The dirt, the grass, the squirrel in the tree several meters away. All of it. All overpowering. All scents fighting and mixing to an unfamiliar nose. His mind and nose couldn’t keep up with the amount of smells. He felt light headed and felt consciousness fading in and out from all the sensory overload. _My own fuckin’ nose is gonna kill me._

Gajeel curled in a ball out of instinct and hid his snout in the crook of his leg. Nose pressing close to skin, he took deep breaths to weather the assault. Surrounded by the fur, the amount of scents diminished to just a couple at a time. With each inhale, the different smells dulled slightly and newer ones surfaced as he became accustomed to each scent.

After a few minutes, his stomach growled again and he slowly lifted his head from its haven. The smells were still there, but dulled somewhat and ones he didn’t get accustomed to yet were not as overpowering. Some actually smelled edible.

Groaning, Gajeel scanned the area once more and then looked at his paws. He willed them to straighten out and lifted.  Slowly, he sat up while keeping his balance. Once he was firmly on his haunches, he tried lifting his legs.  The first round ended with him landing on his face. Then he made a mental note to counterbalance with his front feet as he rose.

 _Come on! You can do this! Just get up! Lily’s waiting!_  

With a growl, he adjusted and tried again, and again. After a few attempts, he was on all four paws. He was wobbly, but had not fallen over yet.  Flexing he began to get a feel for the different muscles helping him stay on all fours. He felt more grounded after shifting around and finding his center. Testing his limits, he took a step, keeping the other three firmly planted. He dropped it back down as soon as he felt himself waiver. _This is harder than it looks…_ _‘Kay one foot at’a time…_

He raised a leg and put it forward, the dry mud crunched under his paw pads. _YES!!_ _Next foot_.

 He lifted his other paw and placed it opposite of the first. Before he could celebrate, he started to sink in the middle. _Dammit!_  

The wolf fell onto his stomach and elbows, rear still in the air and huffed. _Well this isn’t too bad… it’s a nice stretch._ Wiggling his butt, he lifted a back foot and moved it forward with some success. Lifting himself up, the wolf tried again, using all the paws this time. With improving and shaky success, the hound managed to walk a few paces until he began to lean towards one direction.

 _WHAT NOW?!_ Gajeel grumbled as he checked all his paws. Those were good. Looking up he saw a lump of fluff hanging limply to one side… the side he’s leaning to.

  _Is that… shit it is… how do I move it?_ Concentrating, the wolf willed the appendage to move.

And nothing happened. _Can I just chew it off?_

Groaning, the wolf sat and reached over with a paw to touch the fluff behind him. Unfortunately, he couldn’t stretch that far with his shoulders. Growling, he dipped down with his snout, only to be just shy of catching it. The black mass taunting him.

Growing ever agitated, he shifted slightly left to try again and failed as his nose ghosted the fur. _Fuuuuuck… why is this so difficult??_ He shifted and lunged faster, but still missed his mark by a frustratingly small margin. _Come on! If I touch ya, I can figure out how to use ya!_

Changing tactics, Gajeel stood and whipped his head around towards his rear. The tail was still limp and inaccessible, but seemed to sway when he moved his hind legs. Maybe just enough for him to get it. However, when he lunged the fluff had stilled and it was out of reach. _Maybe if I keep moving?_ He started walking in a circle with maw open wide in hopes of catching the elusive appendage, moving faster and faster until he tripped. It was a bittersweet success.

As soon as his teeth connected, there is immediate regret as a sharp pain shot through his spine. Gajeel yelped loudly, spitting out his tail as he fell to the ground. _FUCKING HELL. WHY DID I THINK THAT WAS A GOOD IDEA?_ Then an image of dogs doing similar things crossed his mind.

 _OH MAVIS… I JUST CHASED MY TAIL LIKE A DAMN MUTT._ The realization hit hard, leaving him slack-jawed until the throbbing pain in his tail reminded him why he did it. Using the pain as a guide, he focused on the pain until he found the muscles that attached to it and practiced wagging back and forth. After a few minutes, the lingering pain seemed to dissipate from along his lower spine.

Once more Gajeel rose from the ground, moving like before until he started to lean. Swishing his tail to the other side, he kept balance and kept going.  Until he tripped on a root.  It was going to be a long day.

 ~~~

It took most of the day, but now Gajeel could move without tripping or falling on his face.  He could even get up to a slight sprint!

At one point, he caught a whiff of a musky earth and saw a fast movement in his peripheral. A plump brown hare was startled by his running and turned tail into one of the clearings. Stomach growling, the wolf turned towards the retreating ball of fluff and gave chase. Little bastard was fast and turned quicker than Gajeel could anticipate. Getting breathless, he gave one final push on the zigzagging rabbit and lunged.

He felt the soft fur of the hare’s hindquarters brush his nose and his fangs sink into something tender. A squeak and flurry of movements erupted, the muscles tugging his teeth. Gajeel clamped down harder until he heard bones crunch and snap between his fangs. A sharp cry pierced the meadow and the rabbit kicked out, narrowly missing the wolf’s eye. Out of reflex, he dropped the fluff onto the grass below.

 _Oh Mavis! I actually got the damn thing._ His stomach growled loudly as he panted through the mouthful of fur still stuck between his teeth. His tongue brushed it, tasting iron, as the small body started to quiver below him. The hare was hyperventilating and spasming, not even attempting to escape with a broken leg. Taking pity, he reached down and snapped the poor thing’s neck.

Of course, he didn’t know what to do with it after killing it. He couldn’t skin it or cook it.

So, he sat there staring at it for a few minutes while his stomach begged for sustenance.

 _I’m starving…_ He felt moisture drip from his maw. _Well, I could eat it raw…_ A vision of ripped fur bits stuck in his teeth reminded slightly disgusted him. _But I’m not some wild animal!_ A pang of hunger accompanied the loud rumble from his midsection. _Nope, eating it raw._ Taking a deep breath, he attacked the lump of meat with gusto. He found that raw rabbit didn’t really have the same flavor cooked.

Once finished with the rabbit, he could think more clearly and put a plan together to find Lily. First, he would need to find the witch’s cabin again. Then, he would need to figure out how to get in and find his brother without being seen. With a huff, he started off in that direction.

Night started to fall and nothing looked right or familiar from the night before. He had been trotting for a while, when he heard a crack in a branch a few trees up. Sniffing, he couldn’t make out much but the slight smell of kiwis. _Lily?_ Cautiously he moved towards the suspected tree and looked around for any hide or hair of his brother. _Maybe he escaped too!_ Getting hopeful, he started to jaunt around the trunk to follow the scent.

A massive black shadow dropped in front of him and swiped. Gajeel barely dodged the sharp glinting claws. A roar rang in Gajeel’s ears.

In front of him was a giant panther with dark eyes and silver markings across its body and face. A musky kiwi scent was coming from this cat, who was now circling Gajeel. A glint caught the wolf’s eye. In the center of the feline’s chest was a silver gem. Much like the cobra’s… And his eyes? They were very much his brother’s.

_No…I shoulda’ known they’d do this to Lily too. I’m a fuckin’ idiot._

**_“Lily? It’s me, Gajeel!”_** He tried to talk but it only came out as an odd mixture of warbled whines and growls. The panther showed no signs of recognition and replied with a loud roar that sent birds from all directions into the sky.  Then the cat hunched over with eyes intently staring at the wolf, ready to pounce.

A chill swept the air and was filled with the twisted shadow-man’s voice. “Ah! The loyal dog is back already? How do you like your companion’s new form? It seemed fitting.” 

Gajeel couldn’t hold back the low growl forming in his chest as the man continued, “And unlike you, he listens to what we tell him! Like an obedient pet. With you as an addition, my army grows. Lily, be a dear and fetch the dog.”

Instantaneously, Lily pounced towards Gajeel with teeth and claws bared.  The wolf didn’t have time to outmaneuver the black blur, and suffered for it. Fangs and claws sunk into Gajeel’s right shoulder, shredding the muscle and fur. With pain blurring his senses, he made a swipe of his own and connected with Lily’s chest.

A scream resounded in the wolf’s skull as he felt the pressure leave his shoulder. A glance upward and he saw his claw marks across the silver markings, just barely nicking the gem. The cat hissed and swiped at him, but started backing away.  _Damn, wasn’t tryin’ to hurt ‘im, but fuck did he do a number on me._

Lily started to circle again, a warning snarl escaped from the wolf.  The cat seemed to hesitate with brief hint of clarity crossing his eyes. A second later, the cloudiness took over and the panther sprang at Gajeel again. He was ready this time and retaliated with a swipe of his own.

He connected with Lily’s head. Another scream rang through the forest. Blood started pouring from a deep gouge on one side of the panther’s face. Lily cowered momentarily, unsure of his feet, then ran off into the forest, leaving the wolf with a mangled leg by himself. _I’m sorry, Lil’. I hope ya can forgive me. I just need to figure out what to do…_

The full weight of the past two days crashed upon him as he slumped to the ground in pain. A deep and sorrowful howl escaped him, echoing throughout the forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Turkey Day!! I hope everyone is having a great feasting day!  
> So in this chapter I wanted to highlight the troubles of shapeshifting that I feel don't get looked at too often. Feel free to leave a comment or kudos!  
> Next update will be on the weekend!   
> Edit: I totally lied. Moving my mom was more time consuming than planned so next update will be the coming weekend.


	5. Stories Begin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Books call to a Levy determined to travel to Hargeon, despite warnings from friends.

About 9 months later…

“And they live happily ever after,” sang a busty blonde surrounded by a crowd of onlookers. Applause filled the tavern as another epic tale was concluded by the local storyteller. She was known to enthrall many an audience with just the sound of her voice, but with a great story, she could capture the attention of nearly any person within earshot. The lady bowed with a flourish and posed gracefully as a cheer echoed off the wooden walls lining the She-Devil Tavern.

“That was wonderful, Lucy!” A short blue-haired maiden ran up to the storyteller animatedly and embraced her. “I love how you worked the prince in as the dragon! It was so romantic!” she giggled.

“I knew you would love it, Levy,” smiled Lucy as she picked up her things, “it had action, drama, magic and love, a perfect recipe for a classic!” The blonde waded through the thinning crowd and collected her tip pouch, counting her earnings for the night.

“You should really write these down someday,” grinned the bluenette while motioning towards the bar.  A lively Mira waved them over excitedly.

“Maybe when I lose my voice,” laughed the blonde, her many necklaces bouncing from the mirth. “Besides these stories are meant to be shared, not hoarded in someone’s library.” She gave Levy a knowing look and a smirk before heading towards the barmaid.

“I do not hoard,” huffed Levy as she fought to keep up with her friend, “it’s to preserve them! I want people a hundred years from now to know these!”  A bright-eyed Mira smiled welcomingly at them and pointed to two steins ready for them. “Speaking of libraries,” a cheery Levy grinned, “Hargeon just received a new shipment of tomes!” She grabbed the mug of homemade root beer and started sipping on it merrily. It was always a yearly event for the port town, and there are so many types of books coming in that it was hard to just pick a few. The thought of perusing the aisles of books for her home forced a content sigh from the petite bookworm.

“That’s great, Levy! Anything in particular you will be looking for?” Lucy beamed before taking swig of her ale.

“Well, probably only a handful. I need to find another herbal book to help me identify some more of the plants in the area,” Levy started, ticking off fingers as she went through a mental list. “Maybe some findings from other alchemists. I’m hoping that someone has figured out some of the problems I keep having when heating and freezing some plants.”

Lucy looked thoughtful as she sipped her ale, “That would be pretty beneficial to the hunters. Any other interests? Maybe… a romance?” the blonde drawled with a sly smirk. Levy turned a crimson shade and choked on her drink. Unfortunately, some travelled up her nose, earning a healthy fit of coughs. The blonde patted her back, holding back a small giggle until the bluenette was breathing a little more evenly.

“For your information, I’m only getting books on professional matters,” wheezed the petite maiden, a rueful glare directed at the storyteller.

“Uh-huh…,” the Lucy smirked with smug disbelief, “So, are you going to head out with the caravan next month?”

“All the good books will be gone in a month!” Levy squeaked, “Nope, I was planning tomorrow.” The blonde stilled and grew quiet, a strange and rare sight for the petite maiden.

“The stars show life changes to those adventurous in the next few days, so be careful of the woods. I know you are going to go regardless, but there have been rumors that people have gone missing,” Lucy quietly warned. The blonde started fidgeting with her hair, “There haven’t been any reports lately, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen to you.” Not sure what to say, Levy pondered the warning and Lucy nursed her mug of ale with a distant look until a white-haired barmaid came by again.

“My, my! Why do you both look so blue? Did one of the boys trouble you?” a concerned Mira asked, hands on hips.

“No, nothing like that,” the petite maiden replied with a small smile. “Lucy’s worried about me going to Hargeon by myself.” Mira’s bright face became downcast dramatically and she started to absentmindedly wipe down the bar.

“Oh, please do be careful then,” Mirajane spoke sadly, “a few months ago I lost two boys of my own and my sister.” She looked solemnly at two empty stools at the end of the bar before continuing, “It was supposed to be a job for only a day or two. Even with threats, the boys were too thick-headed to stay away. My sister disappeared a bit before them on the way to Hargeon, so forgive us for being concerned about you.” The barmaid’s eyes grew slightly misty, but she quickly shook her head and put on a forced smile.

“Don’t worry, Mira!” Levy hated to see her friend so down, “I’m going to stay on the road I always travel. It shouldn’t have changed much since last year,” Levy reassured the barmaid, “Besides, the road doesn’t go far into the deepwood, I don’t think it even hits the creek except at the fork.”

“Can you at least take Jet or Droy?” asked Lucy, still absent-mindedly play with her long locks. “I get worried about you, ya know?” She looked at Levy with large doe eyes that would normally make the bluenette melt.

Levy made a sour face, “I can take care of myself. Gramps and Jellal did train me to use a knife.” She attempted to put her hands on her hips and push her chest out in a heroic pose, but started to tip in her chair. Lucy saw this coming and stuck a leg out to keep the stool from falling, sighing exasperatedly. Levy regained her balance and smiled sheepishly at the blonde, “Thanks, and besides, those two are so overprotective and constantly bickering over me.” The thought of the two made her shiver, “I mean, they are great guys and I have absolute respect for them, but they can be rather overbearing. I wanted a couple days of quiet.”

The barmaid and storyteller sighed in unison. They knew when Levy makes up her mind she became a determined force of nature, especially when books were involved. Most of her house was made up of shelves for her massive collection. “Can you at least pack some extra protection and supplies in case you need to detour,” the blonde queried, worrying her lip. “It may be safer to just travel along the shore to Hargeon.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Lucy! You know I need to collect some ingredients that only grow on that trail,” the bluenette huffed. “I’m almost out of sage and lavender.”  As the local alchemist, Levy brewed healing salves and poisons for the hunters. Albeit just a journeyman in the trade, she was always the first stop for any traveler and many swore by her concoctions.

“At least take more than a knife, Levy,” the platinum haired girl pleaded, “Wolves and snakes can outmaneuver those.”

“Wolves?” Levy inquired. “They aren’t native here,” she mused while cradling her now empty mug.

Lucy gasped suddenly, “I heard a story of one lately! One of the hunters saw a giant black one with the eyes of the devil!” The bluenette raised her eyebrows as her friend continued, “It was seen around the creek several weeks ago. The hunters swear that it was almost a shadow made of pure evil.”

“I don’t believe it,” Levy stated, shaking her head. “I think the hunters were over-exaggerating. You know how they are; every shadow is a beast to them. There shouldn’t be wolves in the forest, it’s too far east to their usual habitat. They probably saw a deer or small bear at night.” Her lips pursed into a thin line, “However, I will go ahead and see if Droy or Jellal can lend me a staff to use.” The other two girls breathed a small sigh of relief. Noting this, Levy continued, “And don’t have hunters follow me. I hate when they do that.” She gave them a hard stare until they nodded in reluctant agreement. “Good, I’ll leave tomorrow morning, if I’m not back in two days, then you can send the search parties, okay?”

“Fine,” Mira huffed, “Are you going to be in your red hood?”

“Of course,” grinned Levy, “It’s my favorite! Gramps picked out the most amazing shade of red.”

“Well fine then, go pack up,” Lucy grumbled, “but go talk to Droy now. I see him over by Elfman and Jellal, probably getting tips or something about monsters.” She pointed to Mira’s beast of a brother across the tavern talking to a dark-haired man in a ponytail and another dark bluenette with a red tattoo running over his face. Begrudgingly, Levy complied with a groan.

She slowly trudged towards the group of men who hadn’t noticed her quite yet. “Well if you have fire, then you would stand a better chance,” the dark bluenette said coolly. Jellal had his scarf wrapped around his face despite the warm temperatures and sported a sturdy willow bow and quiver. He’s had his fair share of monster trouble, but his quick calculations usually let him come out unscathed.

“A real man would take it on bare handed and pluck its teeth out,” Elfman countered haughtily. He struck a pose that highlighted his abnormally large arms and let out a hearty laugh. She wasn’t sure, but she could have sworn she saw Jellal’s eyebrow twitch before Droy stepped in.

“Elfman, as awesome as that sounds, I’m probably going to take Jellal’s advice.” The tanned man patted the Stauss sibling’s arm and grinned, “Don’t think I’ll be able to even get near a troll, much less go hand to hand.” The platinum-haired man’s face fell but then plucked back up in record time, much like his sister.

“Well then, we are going to have to start training right away!” Elfman exclaimed. As he started listing all the training activities, Jellal sighed and Droy started to look around for anything to change the subject. Soon he saw a familiar shade of blue and his face lit up tremendously.

“Hey there, Levy! How are you tonight? And on another topic, do you have any recommendations for running into trolls?” The dark-haired man offered her a chair near them and grinned widely.

“Oh, um what Jellal said,” she stammered. “Fire scares them away. That’s why I always carry oil and flint with me.” She gave an apologetic smile towards Mira’s brother, who looked slightly downcast.

“Thank you, Levy. Your input is always appreciated,” thanked Jellal. “So how is my dear sister this evening? You look like you have something on your mind,” queried the darker bluenette. Though they have similar hair colors, the two were adopted as orphans by one of the leaders of the town.

“I’m doing well, just preparing for my trip to Hargeon tomorrow.” Levy’s eyes started to sparkle brilliantly as she thought about all the books coming in until a ginger-haired man walked up.

“Hey Levy! Do you want any company on the trip?” Jet settled by Droy with two mugs of ale and looked at the tiny bluenette expectantly. Droy seemed to be asking the same question silently.

“No, I should be fine,” she smiled cautiously. “I’m going to be on the lavender path, so it’s a pretty shallow part of the forest.” The alchemist didn’t miss the disappointed looks that crossed their faces for a split second. “But I did come over here to ask if I could borrow a staff or something similar so I have more than a knife.”

“Oh!” Droy stood up and went over to his pile of things by the wall and picked up his latest project. As he came back, Levy could see an intricately designed staff that was perfect height for her. Droy presented it to her, “I found this piece over in the old eastern trails and I figured I would make you a walking stick with how much you hike around.” He rubbed the back of his neck as she gently handled and inspected it. Realistic-looking flowers were delicately carved into the oak wood with a vine winding itself down the staff.

Looking up with a bright smile, Levy twirled it for a couple seconds before turning back to Droy. “Thank you so much! It’s beautiful and feels like a really good weight!” The absolute pride in the dark-haired man’s face could be seen all the way to the bar where Lucy and Mira could be seen snickering. “What can I do to thank you?”

Droy’s face blushed a tomato red as he stuttered, “Well I wasn’t really expecting anything in return. But… um… If you… you could maybe make one of your blackberry pies for me that would be fine… yeah.” The ginger’s mouth just gaped as the dark-haired man’s face stayed red. Jet almost looked physically wounded at the gift and astonished that Droy would even ask for anything.

“It’s a deal then!” Levy responded cheerily. “Well thank you for the gift. I would stay longer but I need to head home soon to pack.”

“Good night, Levy. I’ll probably be in Onibus when you get back, so safe journeys,” Jellal said softly. The alchemist gave him a gentle hug and wished him the same as well as to the others.  Droy was still unable to function while Jet gave Levy a hug as well. Elfman just gave her thumbs up and wink to send her on her way out the bar’s doors. Of course, once she shut the door, a symphony of shouts erupted from what she knew was between Jet and Droy. Sighing, she twirled her new staff as she headed towards her house.

Once home, she eagerly started gathering supplies she felt she would need. Some rations, salves, flint, oil, and a canteen found a home in her leather satchel. Next, she dug out her woven flower basket and favorite blue knife with rune stone etchings, which she tucked into her red leather sheath on her belt. Once she deemed she had what she needed, everything was placed on a table by her door, ready for tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, last weekend's update didn't happen because I was moving my mom 4 hours away, but I do hope you enjoyed the turkey feast day update! This chapter was somewhat difficult for me to write, and if you have any constructive criticism or writing tips, I would love to hear them!


	6. Another Day, Another Traveler

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> THEY FINALLY MEET

Sunlight greeted a blue bird’s nest nestled between blankets, and a small grunt signaled the rousing of the owner. Like a graceless swan, she rose to a sit, shoulders slumped, and blearily peered around the room. Her demeanor drastically changed from lethargic to excitement as her eyes fell on the pile of equipment by the door. The bed exploded in a flurry of movement in Levy’s enthusiasm to get ready for the day. There were very few motivators to wake Levy, one being books.

Within minutes, she had eagerly dressed in a simple blouse and shorts for the warm summer day and attempted to tame the blue mane. Unfortunately, more than a brush was needed to conquer that foe, so she just settled for holding it back in a bandana. Sporting stockings that matched, she adjusted the laces on her well-loved leather boots as well as her belted sheath until she was satisfied that she could still run unbothered.

She wasn’t a hunter like her brother, but she also wasn’t a fool and needed to be prepared for anything in the forest. With some final adjustments, her backpack was comfortably secured over her crimson cloak. Her equipment donned, she picked up the flower basket and staff and headed out towards the woods.

Starting down the forest path was always exhilarating. Everything was flush green with growth and lively with chirps and chitters. The sunlight filtering on the path shifted as the cool sea air supplied a sweeping breeze to stave the heat of summer. Magnolia had mostly fair weather most of the year, save for the row of storms that break up the monotony in the warmer seasons. The sky showed promise to stay clear for the day much to Levy’s delight.

Several paths wound through the wood towards the Hargeon. The main path only took travelers a few hours to reach the port town. Paths through the deep wood usually took a day or two because overgrowth and wild animals. The path Levy usually wanders is called the ‘Lavender Path’ by the Magnolian hunters due to the large fields of wildflowers and colorful plants, most notably, lavender.

It usually takes over half a day to walk through the forest, but the blue-haired maiden loved to stop to smell the flowers and grab a few for her salves.  Most of the herbs Levy needed were blooming and seeding, and almost all of them grew along the trail to Hargeon. The rarer herbs were usually in the deeper wood, but even she knew protection was needed to gather those.  Unfortunately, they would have to wait until another time.

Lavender practically lined the well-travelled path as the bluenette pranced through, picking through them for the most mature sprigs. It was her favorite of the plants. It grounded and soothed her during troubled times, and filled her with a sense of contentment when paired with her fortress of books. What more could she want out of life?

Hours passed as the trail led shallowly through patches of trees and clearings, green overtaking most of the scenery. In the tree-lined parts, she found fungi and vines, and the clearings held fields of flowers and shrubs. Yellows, purples, and reds rose above the shades of green, and Levy may not admit to it, but she did enjoy rolling around one of the fields. The only tell-tale signs being the pollen sticking to her cloak as she hummed a soothing song.

Levy had managed to find a good stock of most of her herbs before she reached the major fork in the forest. To the east was a bridge running across the creek, leading to the deeper wood, and to the south was the road leading to Hargeon. She looked longingly into the thick growth past the bridge. One ingredient she didn’t find were elderberries, no doubt in abundance deeper in. But nevertheless, she would have to have company to get those. Sighing, she turned towards the trail leading to the port town.

However, a flash of vividly bright purple caught the young alchemist’s eye. Turning back, she caught sight of it again on the creek bed across the bridge. Moving closer, she squinted at the bright flowering plant growing almost in the water. It wasn’t one she saw often and looked too big and too close to water to be fireweed. “Hmm, it’s not technically in the deep wood… I should probably grab it. I may be able to find what it is in my botany book,” she mused to herself as she deviated from her course.

The bridge creaked slightly from disuse under the maiden’s leather boots as she traversed the old wooden planks to get her query. Thankfully, nothing serious happened and she let out a deep breath once her foot hit dirt. Now that she was closer to this side of the creek, it dawned on her how steep the bank was.

Levy tapped her belt lightly as she debated on how to get to the plant. Climbing down would be best, but would require both hands, so she would have to leave her basket and staff. Another option would be to wade over from the other side that sported a much shallower slope to the water, but then she would have to deal with wet clothes the rest of the trip. She chose the lesser of two evils and dropped her things to climb down.

Carefully, the alchemist maneuvered herself down towards the creek. She heard the crunch of mud and silt as she made it to the bottom and whirled around towards the unusual plant. She reached down to grab its stem and was about to pull when a sound chilled her bones.

A low growl resounded over the gurgling water. Panicked, Levy’s eyes darted towards the source. There, under the bridge, she saw a mass of black fur and two, almost glowing, red eyes under the wooden boards.

~~~ 

Gajeel was napping happily under the bridge at the fork when some idiot decided to cross it. Today was not the greatest day so far, as he was already bamboozled by a rogue squirrel and lost lunch to a falcon. By Mavis, he was not going to let this idiot ruin the rest of his day. He was tired of chasing away travelers heading into the deep wood. He’s been stabbed, shot by arrows and whacked by sticks from all the various voyagers traversing too close. He haunted them all until he had herded them out of the witches’ territory. Minor injuries were just part of the game, but today he was not in the mood to play.

Sniffing the air, he caught whiffs of all kinds of herbs, most notably lavender, and ink. _Who the hell smells like ink and paper?_ Poking his head out of under the bridge, he saw a petite blue-haired girl struggling to climb down the creek. Then it looked like she was about jump in the water. _Damn it, shrimp! You woke me up to go swimming??_

He growled at the intruder.  Her honey eyes immediately connected with his and for a few seconds it was a staring contest of the ages. Like a rabbit debating his odds against a lion… or wolf. He took one step towards her and Levy saw a better view of just how big this wolf was.

The bluenette yelped. “Oh crap, they were right!” bolting the opposite direction. Unfortunately for Gajeel, it was the wrong one.

Levy scrambled back up the creek bed and just kept running as the wolf growled and barked behind her. _Hey! Stop! At least run the other way damn it!_   He jumped the steep slope with a single bound and ran after her. _Damn she’s fast…_

_~~~_

The alchemist just kept running towards the tree line, trying to remember anything about what to do when confronting a wolf. Wasn’t there something about calm and being big? Maybe eye contact? “OH!” panted Levy. Skidding to a stop in front of cluster of oak trees, she turned around and flared out her cape.

Her eyes made contact with the wolf’s garnet ones as he too skidded to halt a few meters in front of her. She then saw the full form of the wolf. It was huge black mass with swirls of silver across its head and chest. Immediate regret seized Levy once she realized that looking big against that thing was nearly pointless as it slowly inched closer towards its prey. The shoulders on it were about as tall as hers and could easily reach twice her height if she climbed a tree.

Then a thought struck her. She can get out of reach until she could think of a plan. Feeling the bark behind her, she lowered herself slightly and reached for the ground.  The wolf growled menacingly at her movements, picking up the pace towards the red-cloaked figure. He opened his maw to bark and was met with a handful of dirt in his mouth and eyes.

Yelping, he immediately dropped to rub his eyes as he spat the now mud from between his teeth. Levy took the chance and started scaling the taller of the trees behind her in near record time. Soon she found a nook where the branches forked well out of the wolf’s reach. Looking down, she kinda felt bad for the foaming-mouthed beast. Well at least until he started glaring and barking at her menacingly.

Below, the wolf had started to circle the tree, watching her intently and snarling. _Ya gotta be fucking kiddin’ me. First the dirt and now ya climb a tree?! You know there isn’t really an escape up there?! I just wanted a frickin’ nap damn it!_

Gajeel tried to climb up, but quickly realized why she picked this one. Even on his hind legs, he couldn’t reach a decent foot hold. With a huff, he sat down on his haunches and stared at her, daring her to come down. _Ya can’t wait up there forever, shrimp._

Chest heaving, Levy sat among the branches and slowly evened out her breathing enough to calm down and think more clearly.

There was a wolf staring at her, so she needed at least a distraction to get down unseen. Looking around, she only found acorns and branches. She could always throw a few and hope for the best.

“Why didn’t I pick up the staff?” she muttered. She heard a snort and looked down at the black mass. He had laid down and was leisurely observing her. “Well I’m glad you are having fun you brute…,” Levy grumbled. Another snort. _Well, you have made my day a little entertaining._

Frustrated, Levy threw an acorn at him. It missed and landed a couple meters away. Cocking his head, Gajeel gave her the best impersonation of an unamused human and shook his head. _Gotta get better with yer aim to hit me. That was pitiful._ _You need a bigger arc._

It looked like he was… mocking her?  Her mouth gaped open, understanding that he was challenging her. Determined, she lobbed another acorn and didn’t do too much better as it landed about the same distance away from him.

“ ** _Gi-Hee_** ” an odd chuckle coming from the wolf as he pranced over to the acorn and held it up for her to see.  He then threw it up in the air and swiped it with his tail towards the blue-haired girl.

“Oww!” yelped Levy. She rubbed her shoulder where the acorn bounced off. “How did you do that?!”

“ ** _Gi-Heeee_** ,” Gajeel laughed heartily, rolling on the ground. _It took me three months to figure out how to use my tail like that! And now it was totally worth it! Mwhahaha!_

Levy froze. He was laughing at her. An animal was amused by hitting her… Was this wolf intelligent? Well, even if it was, this was the perfect time to run. She may have to go through the heavier wood first to distract it enough. If it was smart, going towards the creek directly would be easy to guess and it could easily herd her away.

With finesse, she leapt from the branch and rolled into a landing, using the momentum to start running.  Gajeel yelped at the sudden movement and was startled by the small maiden jumping from the tree and how fast she was getting away. _Damn it, she’s smart. And still going the wrong way, shrimp!_ He growled, sprinting towards the fleeing bluenette.

Getting through the underbrush was slightly difficult, but Levy managed to smack the wolf a couple times with some branches to gain some distance. The trees were getting pretty dense, so she sharply turned and headed towards the creek again. She looked back to see the wolf a good distance still behind her. Unfortunately, she didn’t see the tree in front of her or the rope next to it. In a split second, she had the wind knocked out of her and was lifted by her ankle into the sky.

A momentary floating feeling followed by a sudden jerk sent an uneasy feeling through Levy as she fell closer towards the ground, only to bounce back a little into the air. Pain registered above her eyebrow and ankle as the bouncing evened out to gentle swaying. Something warm was sliding towards her hairline from near her eye. The world was spinning. The ground seemingly a mile out of reach.  Trees merely becoming a blur with a large black spot that got larger.

A small groan escaped the alchemist as the spinning slowed and she came face to face with the wolf. White fangs and crimson eyes the last thing she sees before her vision fades out into unconsciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! So this one was a bit tough as I couldn't make up my mind how the interaction would go. I finally settled on this one last week, but needed to rewrite most of the next chapter... the curse of editing an already written draft. I would love to hear your thoughts on this one! *Also want to remind that this is a slow burn and I promise that there will be more snark between the two later, even if one can't understand.


	7. Food or Friends?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grumpy Gajeel and regretful Levy.

Gajeel couldn’t help but cringe as he watched the maiden in red run into a tree and then get shot up into the air by the trap. On her way down, he saw the rope jump with every bounce until it stilled. Her cloak hung behind her head limply as she spun around and her belongings scattered along the ground underneath. Coming closer, he smelled blood and finally saw her face as the rope slowed. A small cut was bleeding above an eye that slowly slipped shut as he neared.

 _Damn it, shrimp._ _Why couldn’t ya just go back across the damn creek or freakin’ watch where yer goin’._ He nosed the unconscious maiden with a growl, catching sight of a vivid blue curl peeking out from the hood. Interested, he tugged the on the cloak and felt the clip come undone, unleashing the fluttering garment to the ground. Nothing obstructing his view, he took in the sight of his newest unwelcome guest.

She was tiny, like pick her up with one arm and throw her, tiny. Inhaling, he picked up the scent of lavender and ink emanating from the slow-spinning body. Her blouse had fallen dangerously close to revealing her undergarments and modest cleavage, much to Gajeel’s dismay, and left her smooth skin open to the cool air. Long blue locks fell below a soft face with the only mar being the cut on her eyebrow.  If he wasn’t so pissed at the ordeal, he may have even thought the intruder was cute.

Grumbling, he walked passed the maiden towards the taut rope supporting her. It was a pretty simple trap that ‘someone’ could have avoided if they were paying attention. _Damn it. If this is one of the witch’s traps, then they’re gonna check it soon… Fuckin’ shrimp had to pick this way._ He clamped down on the rope and started to gnaw. Unfortunately, even with his sharp canines, the rope refused to fray.

Frustrated, he started pacing to think, slowly growing annoyed at something glinting out of the corner of his eye. He needed something sharper than teeth. Or he could yank on her more until her foot slipped from the boot. _That’s an idea… What the fuck is trying to blind me?_ He growled at the sunlight glinting at him until he registered what it was.

On the unconscious maiden’s belt was a brilliantly blue knife halfway in its sheath, light reflecting off it as her body turned. The dagger’s sheen lit up like a halo as the light caught it again.  Quickly, the wolf marched towards her and reached for the weapon. He gingerly took the handle between his teeth and pulled, easily removing it. Now it was just a simple matter of cutting her down.

Once the rope was severed, the unconscious bluenette fell limply onto her cloak, earning yet another wince from Gajeel. Luck was not on her side today. In haste, he dropped the knife into her backpack nearby and moved the bag onto the cloak. Gripping the red fabric in his maw, he started the trudge out of the deep wood with the girl in tow.

Slowly, he marched towards the bridge, catching branches and dodging crooked roots along the way.  Nearly half-way there, he heard a groan and felt the fabric shift between his teeth. _Finally! My jaw was getting’ tired, Shrimp._

~~~

Levy’s eyes fluttered open, her mind still dazed. Greens and blues floated above her. Another groan from the pain creeping up from her leg and a dull throb in her head. Blacks and reds join the fuzzy collection of colors and roar of sounds.

Slowly, the sights and sounds became clearer, crisper, cleaner with every throb. Too much, too bright. Her eyes closed from pain. She swore she heard a dog barking. Or was it whining? Something wet touched her shoulder, forcing a shiver.

Her arm shot to her head from reflex as she curled in on herself, leg shooting new pain. Another groan of pain. Warm moist air blew across her face. A honey eye opened to a looming shadow and flashes of white and red. A moment passes by as the shapes and colors focus into clarity, the white noise rings clear.

Fur. Black fur. A red circle. An iris gazing into hers. Another breath tickled her cheek as she heard the pant of a dog above her. A really, really large dog. Her eye slipped closed again. Something pushed on her hip as a low grumble rumbled in her ear. Whatever it was, kept pushing and Levy thought she felt something sharp poke her side.

Her eyes shot open, fixing on the very large, very white fangs near her face. This wasn’t a dream. Something very real was with her. Possibly going to eat her. She inhaled sharply with her nose, very aware of the teeth coming ever closer. An ear-piercing scream erupted from her throat as she shut her eyes tight.

The presence was suddenly gone. No breaths on her face. No pressure on her side. Just faint disgruntled whining and pained whimpering. Feeling adventurous, she cracked an eye open to only see trees and sky above her.

With a painful groan, she unfolded herself and lifted herself up to a sit. A rough whine drew her attention to a black huddled mass a few meters away. Instinctually grabbing at the knife, she felt nothing. Panic gripped her. Alone in the woods with a wolf and nothing to defend with. Lucy and Mira were going to have a field day if she survived.

Staring at the mangled mass, Levy felt the ground around her for anything sharp, truly surprised when she felt fabric rather than dirt. Ahead of her, the wolf had his rear in the air with his head on the ground, limbs covering his head as he squirmed to rub his ears. Her hand ran across something long and thin. The canine noticed her movement and looked directly into her eyes, growling.

He shook his head violently and stood tall, glaring at the blue-haired maiden. Her breath hitched as the wolf trotted closer towards her. She grasped the object near her and thrusted towards the black mass.

Gajeel stopped at the motion, “ ** _Gi-hee!_** ” The odd laugh froze Levy. Looking to her hand was a twig no longer than her arm. But of course, it’s a common thing to find in a forest that could easily snap in two between a certain animal’s teeth. But even stranger was the wolf sitting in front of her. Laughing. Like a hyena. Do all wolves make fun of their food?

Garnet eyes snapped towards the rustling branch in the trembling maiden’s hand and made a snort. He slowly advanced towards her again, and she struggled backwards, wincing every time she used her bad leg. Surprisingly, the wolf stopped and sat about a meter away. He glared at her for a few moments as she still struggled to move, then loosed a single, commanding bark.

Levy immediately froze, breaths becoming shallow as all the worst-case scenarios flooded her mind. Paralyzed by her fears, she didn’t even realize that the wolf moved closer until she felt a tug on her boot. On reflex, she jerked her leg but the wolf only held on tighter, putting more strain on the already injured leg.

Clawing at the ground, she flipped over to her stomach and tried to leverage herself against the tug-o-war over her boot. “Why was I so… stupid to come… out here alone?” she whimpered between handfuls of dirt. “All I wanted to do was get books from Hargeon!” A grumbling vibrated through the wolf’s teeth as her boot started to slip. With a yelp, the leather slid off painfully as the force tugging also stopped.

Clenching her teeth, she tried to scramble to her feet. First was the sound of the boot hitting the ground reached her. Next was the sudden weight on her back, pinning her to the ground and knocking the air out of her lungs. Levy waited for the inevitable teeth to rip her flesh, quivering helplessly under the wolf’s pressure.

She was baffled when the unexpected happened. More pressure covered her torso and then what sounded like the wolf’s equivalent of a long-winded lecture erupted near her head. Looking to her side, her jaw dropped slightly as his was gabbing endlessly near her face with a single eye trained on her with the occasional eye-roll. Eyes wide, she stared disbelievingly at the sight before her, nearly missing the questioning huff aimed at her.

“So… you’re not going to eat me?” the bluenette gasped hopefully. A low annoyed groan escaped as his eye slipped closed briefly before the wolf shook his head. “WAIT… you can understand me??” An exasperated sigh gave way to a nod, as the world became surreal to Levy again. “An intelligent wolf… I must have hit my head harder than I thought…”

Grunting, Gajeel lifted himself off the tiny wanderer in favor of less squirmy perches and settled into a sit on a patch of grass nearby. _Yes, I understand ya. Now, please get over it so we can move on out. I want my damn nap._ He huffed impatiently, waiting for the girl to sit up and get over the whole situation.

A sudden detail hit Levy. “Wait… didn’t I step on a trap?” A nod. “But… How… How did I get here??” He gave her a bored look. “You? You got me down?” Another nod. “Wow…” What he didn’t expect was the hand reaching out towards him, the bluenette’s face full of fascination.

 _I’m not here to be yer friend, Shrimp!_ Snarling, he bared his fangs and regretfully watched as the maiden shrunk back in fear. _Shit. Not what I was going for._ With a snort, he reached for her bag and tossed it onto her lap in hopes she saw it as a peace offering. She winced at the sudden pressure on her leg and stared at the leather satchel for a few moments. “Sorry, that was rude of me...,” the maiden said in a small voice before inhaling sharply when straightened her injured leg. Setting aside the bag, she took another deep breath and set to work.

Trying her best to ignore the enormous wolf nearby, Levy pried the stocking off and finally had a good look at the damage. Her ankle had swollen in size and was a bitter shade of red that showed promise of bruising. She tenderly poked a few places. Despite the searing pain, she didn’t find any odd lumps or any broken bones under the inflamed tissue.

Focused on the injury, Levy failed to notice the wolf inching closer to inspect the leg himself and nearly jumped in surprise when she heard a snort next to her. She took another breath to calm down and addressed the beast next to her, “I think I just twisted it. It would have been worse had I not been wearing boots.” He grunted in what sounded like approval.

Grabbing her bag, emptied her bag on the cloak under her, very grateful she dumped it away from her leg as her blue dagger fell. “I was wondering where that was…,” she murmured before sheathing it. Several vials of various shades of green clinked together, mixed among rations and various traveling gear.

Picking out one of the muddier shades, Levy uncorked the bottle of green ooze and started to pour it on her ankle. Gajeel’s nose crinkled at the foul-smelling salve as the bluenette rubbed it into the swollen areas. She then took her stocking and carefully swathed her ankle in a makeshift wrap. Wincing through the pain, she finally let out the breath she was holding as the throbbing in her leg settled to a dull roar.

A sharp bark brought Levy’s attention to her surroundings as she gathered her things. Garnet eyes were trained on her until the hulking beast briefly turned his attention towards a thicket of trees, then back to her while pawing the red cloak impatiently. She gave him a quizzical look, “You want to go?” The wolf nodded, rolling his eyes with a huff. “Why are you staying here with me then? Don’t you have other things to do than scare travelers to death, or some sort of master to return to?”

The wolf’s red eyes narrowed, letting out an exasperated sigh. _No, but you have been the most difficult to get out so far… now hurry and get up, Shrimp._ He swooped down and tugged the cloak out from under her. Ignoring the pained yelp, he dropped the red hood on the blue nest and impatiently sat while the she struggled and cursed.  Eventually, Levy was able to right the herself and the cloak.

“Was that necessary?” she huffed, glowering in annoyance as she collected her stray boot and tucked it into her bag. Grumbling, she took a deep breath and lifted herself up using a nearby tree for support. Wobbly, she took a step towards the direction he pointed to earlier, but gasped as excruciating pain shot up her leg. The pressure of standing alone made her crumple back to the ground almost in tears.

Ears perked, the wolf made his way cautiously to the small bluenette and hesitantly nosed her. With a small hiss, she sat back up touching her ankle. The salve was supposed to alleviate some of the pain, but it hadn’t sat long enough to work yet. Looking back up, she thought a glimpse of concern in the wolf’s eyes, but he turned away.

“What have I gotten myself into?” Sighing, she scanned around for anything that would help, “I wish I had my staff… I shouldn’t have left it at the bridge when I was trying to get that purple flower. Maybe I can hobble back to Magnolia with a branch,” she mused to herself.

Suddenly, Levy felt a rush of wind as the wolf sprinted past her into the woods. Like that, the wolf was gone, leaving her alone, stranded among the deep wood.

“Did I say something wrong?” Puzzled, she sighed and stared up to the sky, until her stomach growled loudly. “Might as well eat something until the salve kicks in. Looks like it’s going to be a long trip back…”

~~~~

Gajeel sprinted towards the bridge at top speed. _Faster I do this, faster I can sleep._ Dodging trees, he followed the sound of water.

Once the wooden structure was in sight, he searched and found a basket and staff tucked near one of the supports. _Hmm.. I can’t carry the basket and that…_   _Well it’s probably important to the shrimp._ Grabbing the basket first, Gajeel tucked it under the bridge to keep people from being curious and crossing over. On his way back, he eyed the purple plant the girl mentioned as he hopped the slope. Then he securely clamped his maw around the carved staff and started bounding back towards the tiny traveler.

~~~~

Levy had just finished munching on some bread and dried meat when a rustle in the bushes nearly sent her into a panic. Breathing shallow, she waited for the shaking to stop. Unfortunately, it was coming closer and then something jumped at her.

Shrieking, she held her arms out in defense. When nothing collided, she peeked through her arms to see the black wolf with a giant stick in front of her.

Gajeel dropped the staff in front of her, panting as he dropped beside it in an exhausted heap. _You’ve no idea how difficult it was to not get clotheslined in this stupid forest. I need a minute._

Levy was astonished at the sight before her. He actually brought Droy’s staff to her! She gaped in amazement at the sheer intelligence this animal was showing. “Thank you…,” she said quietly, clutching the carved wood.

Quickly she began stowing her food away until a whine caught her attention. She glanced at the wolf. He sniffed the air and trained his eyes on the pouch in her hand. “Oh! You want some of this?” She shook the small bag and he whined again. “You know, hearing a big thing like you whine is amusing,” Levy giggled and opened the bag.

The scent of dried meat strongly pervaded the air as Gajeel’s mouth started to water from lack of food. Snorting at her comment, he watched as the bluenette took out a decently-sized piece and offer it to him. _Well this is new. Never had anyone feed me, human or otherwise._ Gingerly he grasped the edge of the offering and pulled it out of her hand. The meat was tough, but otherwise delicious. Right now, any food is good food.  _Oh Mavis, this is amazing. I haven’t had people food in ages._ Adventurous, he nudged the small girl and pointed at the pouch in her hand.

“Sorry,” she frowned, “this has to last me the rest of the way home.” The wolf whined in a higher pitch, pawing at her lap. _Please? It was so good…_ “Fine… but this is the last piece,” she sighed defeatedly, handing him another treat before tucking the bag away.

“Okay, let’s see if this works!” chimed Levy as she grabbed the staff. Her ankle was a little numb now and the pain had lessened considerably since her last attempt. After a couple minutes, the alchemist could stand and used the staff as a crutch to move, albeit slowly.

Gajeel decided to walk ahead of her, just in case there were any more traps. Every once in a while, he would look back and see the tiny alchemist looking determined as they traversed the forest. Despite the pain, she had done well to keep up with him. Luckily, the path was trap-less for the journey.

Once safely to the tree-line bordering the creek clearing, he moved to walk next to her. She was leaning heavily on the staff with sweat lining her brow. _How’re ya going to make it home like that, Shrimp?_ Huffing, he looked ahead towards the bridge slowly coming into view. Soon, she wasn’t going to be his problem anymore.

They walked in silence until they reached the bridge. She continued to cross as the wolf slowed to a halt, watching the red-cloaked figure limp towards the other side. Noticing the lack of company at the center of the bridge, Levy whirled to face the wolf sitting at the entrance to the deep wood.

“Is this where we part ways?” she asked sadly. The wolf simply nodded.

Before she could reply, the wolf’s fur bristled as he rose to all fours, fangs bared. He was twisting and turning in all directions until his garnet eyes locked onto her.

Time slowed as the black beast charged at her, fangs glinting in the afternoon sun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was my most difficult chapter so far as I had to rewrite it several times before I was happy with it. Tried some new writing techniques this time round so would love to hear what you think about it!   
> It's been a pretty stressful week and I apologize for getting this update out at the last minute. Since the holidays are coming up, I'm going to take a two week break from updates. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season and I will return in the new year!


	8. Water and Warmth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gajeel can't quite get rid of the intruder, so might as well make the best of it. *Longer chapter*

Gajeel was finally getting rid of the intruding bluenette when an all too familiar scent hit him as the wind shifted. Birds were quiet, the only sound was from her and the river. A twig snapped. Red flags went off and instinct took over. He scanned the area intently, muscles tightening so he could spring at sight. Then he saw the scent’s source. In the trees beyond the bridge. Where the damn girl was heading. _Just what I need right now._ _Damnit!_

He charged towards the threat, fangs bared. The girl’s eyes fill with fear as he closed the distance between them and visibly tensed as she closed her eyes tight, apprehending the impact. _I’ll have to make this up to her later. No hard feelings, Shrimp._

With one swift motion, he lunged at her hood and yanked the fabric towards the edge of the bridge. His strength overwhelmed her as she stumbled over towards the wooden rail. With a final push with his head, she was sent over towards the water below.

Her scream mingled with another as he turned his attention towards the screaming shadow bounding towards him. The scar over his eye from their first encounter confirmed the identity of the attacker.

The kiwi-scented panther rushed towards him, a lethal gleam in his eyes. Both collided into a dark mass of claws and fangs. Chaos reigned as both ran on instinct to subdue the other. A bite to the neck, a claw to the chest, and copper filled the air. He isn’t sure when they separated, but now they were circling in the center of the bridge, looking for any opening. Low growls rumbling from both of them, adrenaline pumped fast and hard, and pants echoed around them.

Lily looked a bit worse for wear, and he was sure that he wasn’t in the greatest shape either. That death glare never left the cat’s eyes though. He needed to put an end to this fight quickly. _How the fuck am I supposed to do that?_ He glanced past the panther and saw the meandering creek. _That’s an idea._

He circled the cat once more until he lined up perfectly, then he charged headfirst into Lily’s chest. He ignored the sharp pain in his shoulder and forehead as he tackled the two of the edge of the bridge.

With a splash, the two became submerged.

The wolf’s head bobbed up a second before Lily’s did. The cat looked panicked as he grabbed for anything in the water, but Gajeel was already a few good paces away. He quickly pushed through new pain as the water shocked the open wounds, panting heavily as he pulled himself onto shore.

He glanced back towards the struggling cat. He was frantically stirring up the water in attempt to find anything solid to cling to. He had some success as his large swipes at the water pulled him towards the opposite bank. Gajeel watched warily as the shadowy figure tripped over his own paws to get out of the creek and turned towards him briefly before jumping back towards the safety of the trees.

He finally saw something else in Lily’s eyes.

Terror.

~~~~~

Her scream was silenced as she hit the creek, water filling her mouth. A moment of eternity passed as the inertia of the fall slowly stopped sinking her further under. That moment was quiet. She almost felt weightless as her hair rose around her. Her cloak splayed out beneath her as if an imaginary wind caught it. The sun filtered into her silent world above, sending streaks of beautiful contrast among the small rocks worn from travel and constant tumbling.

She thought she heard a soft voice in the silence, “Levy… look… so proud…the… key…”

A shock rippled through her body and her moment faltered as a burning rose from her lungs and her feet connected with the bottom. Looking directly at the shifting sun streams, she pushed with her good leg from the bottom. A desperation tugged at her as she struggled to reach the surface. Her heart pounded loudly in her ears. Just a little closer…

Her hand felt the transition first as the wind cooled the soaked hand, then her face, hair plastered against her face at odd angles. She tried to breathe, but water still invaded her lungs as she coughed, desperate for air. Struggling, coughed water out, still swimming until her foot hit solid ground. She tumbled onto the silt and pebbles, hacking violently until there was a small puddle of water next to her prone body.

She greedily gulped the air rushing into her lungs. Her head throbbed and felt light, her body heavy, and her throat burning. Something hit her foot.

Cracking an eye towards the water, she warily looked and found her staff, half bobbing in the water. Thanking Mavis for small miracles, she reached across the sand and rock towards the carved wood.  Gentle waves pushed it into her straining arm and she grasped it like a lifeline.

Then she heard the noise.

Lifting herself up slowly, Levy’s world spun slightly and quickly beat down the incoming nausea. The noise grabbed her attention again and she gritted her teeth between deep breaths, peering up towards the bridge.

Two dark figures were circling each other in the center of the wooden structure. Not good.

Mustering up the little energy left, she swallowed the twinge of pain from picking herself off the ground and limped away. Unfortunately, she didn’t get very far before she heard a series of splashes behind her and the sound of panting getting closer.

~~~~~

You could say that he deserved what happened. He did throw her off a stupid bridge. Gajeel just wasn’t prepared to get whacked in the head with a fucking staff when he caught up to her. She didn’t even spare him a glance before twirling the damn stick in his direction. When she finally did see him, she even tried to swing again! Luckily, he dodged that one.

“You ran at me and pushed me off a bridge!” she snarled, swinging the carved wood a third time. That time he was ready and caught the offending stick in his maw, latching on with all his jaw strength left. _Give me a fuckin’ break, Shorty!_ _I’m already bleedin’ without yer help!_

With a twist of the head, Gajeel ripped the staff away from a fuming Levy. She glared furiously and drew her knife, pointing the blue steel in his direction.

 _Really?_ The wolf gave a deadpan stare before letting the carved wood roll out of his mouth with a soft thud on the wet silt. _Whatever. I’m done with this shit._ With a swish of his tail, he turned away to continue the direction towards Magnolia. Honey eyes warily followed the beast distancing himself and she noted his limp as he slowly trotted away.

The dagger in Levy’s hand felt heavy, and sheathed it once the danger seemed to have passed. Gingerly leaning down, she reached for her staff without once breaking line of sight of the wolf.

Gajeel heard the gentle shifting of feet walking on wet silt behind him. He didn’t bother looking to know that the troublesome woman was following him. He still didn’t know why he bothered to even be going in this direction, but something told him that she was curious. _Damn it, Mira. I couldn’t just leave her there, now could I? I’m a damn idiot for a cute trespasser._

After an hour, the bank had gotten shallower while they walked in silence. Well, shallow enough for the bluenette to climb without too much help, not that he was going to help her anyway. He did have to commend her persistence despite injuries.

The creek had long given way from bare gouged rock and dirt to ever creeping long-grass and roots of nearby weeping willows. A well-travelled path soon presented itself from the gentle decline of the bank that seemed to snake through a shallow grove of trees.

Nearby was a safe shelter for the night as the sun inched closer towards the horizon. Gajeel had found this particular spot while hunting years before and was surprised to find it again after the curse. Soon it became a frequented destination while he wandered this side of the deep wood.

Gajeel led the small traveler onto the worn path, finally taking a glance at the small maiden. She was still giving him a wary look, but looked ready to fall over in exhaustion. He forged ahead, safety not too far now. A small outcrop of rocks first marked the trail that led to a hollow with a small pond overshadowed by a towering weeping willow tree.

Despite her weariness, she couldn’t help but gaze in awe at the beauty of the hidden glade. A gentle breeze caressed the long tendrils of the willow, the swaying delicately triggering cascades of ripples across the clear pond. Dragonflies danced through the various colors rising through the surrounding field, shadows cast by the rock walls enclosing the haven. The single tree was nestled in the farthest part against the sheer cliff.

The wolf continued to trot towards the towering tree, small stepping stones leading across the pond that Levy missed at first. He didn’t stop until he reached the trunk of the giant where it seemed as if he disappeared without a trace as Levy tried to catch up. She inspected the base of the towering willow, finding nothing until a small snort alerted her to a decently-sized crevice hidden under a tangle of roots along the rock wall.

Two crimson eyes stared out towards her, beckoning her to follow as they disappeared. Pushing the stubborn roots aside, she scooted herself towards the hole hoping this wasn’t some horrible trick. As she shuffled through the passage, Levy was pleasantly surprised when it widened out into quite a roomy cavern.

Streams of fading sunlight filtered through a gaping crack in the ceiling, lighting the dim cave. The wolf paced around the perimeter, sniffing at smaller crevices, and periodically glanced towards his unusual guest. Said visitor hobbled towards the sunbeams as the coolness of the cavern elicited a shiver from the maiden.

Even after walking nonstop, her clothes were still damp from the swim earlier while her guide’s fur was nearly dry, evoking an envious glare at the wolf.

Another shiver wracked through the alchemist.

Gajeel finished checking his perimeter when he turned back towards the bluenette. Eyes wide with shock, he stared at the maiden silently stripping out of her soaked clothes. Garment by garment, she laid them out along the ground under the sunbeams until only her undergarments remained. Gajeel could only stare at the creamy skin and delicate curves that left little to the imagination, hoping to Mavis that he wasn’t drooling, too.

She had moved onto digging through her bag despairingly to see what was salvageable from her impromptu swim. One by one, she laid out her remaining salves, waterlogged food, and wet camping supplies. The wolf was more than happy to finish off the damaged food while she still kept a wary eye on him. He didn’t care, it was food.

But it seemed that her ivory skin was paler than he saw earlier today, and that’s when Gajeel noticed the slight tremble and faint chattering of teeth. She was shivering, badly, and started hugging herself on the ground. _That’s not good._

Soft padded steps were her only notice as Levy felt fur brush past her shoulders and then wind around her. She nearly ran in panic, but a curt growl stopped any attempt as the beast curled around her small frame, pressing warmth into her icy skin. Startled breathing finally mellowed out into steady breaths. Her energy completely tapped from the events of the day and the snugness of her captor took their toll as her eyes slipped closed in mere moments.

~~~

The small maiden’s shivers became less frequent the first hour while Gajeel made sure she kept breathing. He panicked slightly when she would become too still, but was reassured when she would murmur incoherently. He huddled with her for what seemed hours as he himself dozed on and off, keeping an eye on the light slowly disappearing from the cave. _About time I got food and my fuckin’ nap… company’s not bad either._

With a yawn, he stretched out a few kinks from sitting still so long, earning a whiny mumble from the bluenette. Not quite ready to leave the warmth, she sidled closer to the source. Grunting, he quickly moved out of her way as he agitated and reopened some fresh wounds. She just curled tightly around herself on the still-warm rock once it was evident that he wasn’t coming back.

Survival rule one: find shelter. Done.

Survival rule two: build a fire. Not done. But… it looked like the girl packed a flint and steel set, so that’s a start.

If this one was going to make it home, she’s going to need dry clothes and extra warmth to fight hypothermia. Body heat will only go so far. Well that and he didn’t need anyone clinging to him with these wounds. His right shoulder was still throbbing from the gash Lily left before hurling into the river. Making up his mind, he pulled the still somewhat damp cloth over the maiden before taking his leave of the cave.

The cool dusk air ruffled his fur as he emerged from the well-hidden crevice, tensing as it pulled on the sensitive hairs near the matted blood. A tentative inhale told him what he could find around. A den of rabbits holed up nearby, maybe under a kilometer around. A deer trotted by half-an-hour ago by the musk still present. Nothing remotely similar to kiwis. Definitely a good sign.

It didn’t take long to leave the glade and spot some dead branches littered among the forest floor. There were twigs as narrow as twine and some logs as big as a man’s thigh that barely fit in his maw. It took a few trips, but he eventually had a small mound of various shapes for a decent fire. Well… decent enough to last for a couple hours.

The bluenette was still in a small heap where he left her, occasionally mumbling nonsense between soft snores. He took a moment to look at her serene face before he worked up the nerve to paw at her. _Okay, Shrimp, ya need to wake up. I can’t start this fire on my own._ More incoherent mumbles bubbled from her, until she swatted the paw in annoyance. _Ya can go back to sleep after ya help me._ She tugged on the cloak and rolled away.

Gajeel huffed in annoyance. _Just my luck…_ Then a mischievous glint flickered in his eye. He hunched down low and tensed several muscles near the girl’s head. He inhaled all the air he could hold and let loose a powerful bark. It echoed mercilessly through the cavern, much to the wolf’s amusement.

Levy screeched at the sudden noise, tumbling away as instinct took over while the wolf rolled on the floor. “ ** _Gi-hee!!_** ” Holding her heart, she glared at the beast with sharp breaths. He cackled for a good solid minute as she caught her breath, clutching the cloak like a lifeline. _Ya should’a seen yer face!_

“What was that for, you great brute!” she sneered when the laughing died down a bit. The wolf tried to choke down another giggle as he waltzed over to a small pile of wood. Realization dawned on her rather too brightly as her head swiveled from the pile to the wolf. Annoyance bled to confusion and then awe as her smile grew wide. _Geez shrimp, yer too bright to look at._

“You are so smart! You must have belonged to someone to know how to do some of the things you do!” Levy exclaimed, reaching for her fire-starting kit. He snorts as she rushes towards the heap of twigs. _I’m no one’s lap dog._ He just grumbles to himself, that is until she surprised him by scratching his chin.

He didn’t have time to move away. Her nails scratched just that right spot along his jaw where for a moment he loses his senses. His tongue lolled out and eyes nearly closed as his mind goes fuzzy. His tail seemed to have a mind of its own, beating an incomprehensible rhythm.

Then just as suddenly as the feeling came, it left. A high whine left him as she pulled her hand away, giggling, “That felt good, huh?” Her smile was dazzling to his foggy brain. _The hell was that?_ “Well let’s get this fire going so we don’t freeze!”

Levy gathered the sticks, some dry moss, and her flint kit and started to work. Gajeel could only watch in a half daze while she got a spark with her knife and started nursing a flame. Soon she had built up a decent size fire and moved the damp clothes closer to the campfire. After a few moments to warm her hands, she noticed that the wolf was nowhere to be found.

Survival rule three: Secure food.

In all honesty, Gajeel did have some sort of moral compass and he did feel obligated to find something to eat for the blue-haired ball of trouble. She did lose all her food because of him, least he could do is supply a meal for the night. Besides, Mira would skin him alive if she found him mistreating a maiden, no matter how much trouble they were.

He wasn’t a total barbarian. He had some etiquette instilled in him by the She-Devil. With some force… and blood… and broken bones. Regardless of how, he knows the basics of treating guests.

His attention was snapped from thoughts as a bush rustled a few meters to his left. Stilling himself, he peered in that direction, waiting for the next movement. _One._ No sound. _Two._ He smelled the prey now. _Three._ A flash of brown and white dashed from under a bush.

The hunt was on. Three minutes. Three minutes of dodging low hanging trees and zigzagging recklessly through brush. All that effort to finally snap his teeth around a common hare’s neck. At least it was a plump one. _Should be enough for the shrimp, and I barely opened those damn scratches._

The rabbit now limp in his jaws, Gajeel trotted leisurely through moonlit grove. The smell of smoke wafted from the hidden vale when he rounded the rocks separating it from the forest. A gentle hum rose from the willow tree, an echo from within its tangled roots. Fire crackled a warm welcome to the hunter’s return.

The maiden neglected to notice the wolf’s quiet approach, hypnotized by the flame’s dance. A soft thud woke her from the trance. Something heavy and limp splayed on her lap and she gazed at the body then to the large frame of the beast. A smile graced her lips as she grasped the intent of the gift.

Quickly, she leapt up and scoured the cave for large flat stones and threw them into the fire. Then the bluenette began carving the rabbit. She kept the feet and pelt, wrapping them in a cloth for later use, and scavenged all the meat she could. Pieces she didn’t think she could eat safely she tossed to the giant black wolf, who happily snapped them up before hitting the ground, like the bottomless pit he really was.

Eventually all the edible bits were set on the hot stones to bake while the alchemist checked her drying clothes. Only a couple pieces seemed to be partially damp, so she saw no reason to not redress, much to Gajeel’s dismay. A content sigh rose from her once the warmth from the fire seeped into her skin.

By the time she finished, the rabbit was pretty well done on the current side and she flipped the pieces over. Grabbing a jar from near her bag, she sprinkled a pinch of dried green plant stuff on the meat. The smell alone started to make Gajeel drool uncontrollably. He had to saunter off to the side of the cave before he accidently set his fur on fire by trying to inhale the meat.

Soon the rabbit was thoroughly cooked and scooped up into a wooden bowl. Levy eagerly took her first bite of sustenance. Regret painted her face as the hot meat fell into her bowl. “Hot… oww…” she frowned, sticking her burned tongue out pitifully.

“ ** _Gi-hee_** ,” the wolf chuckled. He moved closer to see if he could swipe any food, but his plan backfired. Instead of guarding her food like any sane person, she reached towards him.

He grew rigid as her slender fingers glided across his face to his ears, the feeling absolutely foreign to him. No one had touched him that way before, man or beast. He wasn’t sure how to respond so he just pulled away silently, ears flat and eyes intently focused on the girl.

“Oh! I’m sorry, boy…” Levy whispered, concern in her eyes. “I should have let you know I was going to pet you or at least put my hand up first. You were probably just wanting the food, huh?” Gajeel snorted and slumped to the ground. _Yeah, I wanted the damn food, but that felt fuckin’ weird. Not bad… just weird._ Levy placed a decent piece of meat on his paw, but Gajeel was still too stunned to register food just yet.

Worried at the behavior change, the alchemist picked up the piece and held it up to his nose. This seemed to get his attention as he sneezed and shook his head violently, snapping his attention back to reality. The heavenly smell of cooked flesh was like a siren song, undeniably luring him in with promise of pleasurable tastes.

“Oh good, I didn’t break you!” the girl sighed with relief. _Takes more than a head pat to break me, shrimp. Now can ya feed me?_

The girl’s offering called to him in her outstretched palm. His mouth opened on its own accord, drooling heavily. She giggled at his response, gingerly placing the morsel in his mouth. His eyes watered at the tentative tastes, but waited patiently for her hand to pull back before snapping his maw closed.

He immediately stood up still, eyes trained on Levy’s bowl. _Oh Mavis, that was the best tasting rabbit I ever had._ Noticing his direction, she scolded, “Let me eat some, then you can have more.” With a whine, he left her side and pouted by the fire, eyes trained on the source of deliciousness.

It didn’t take too long for Levy to eat her fill, and as promised she set the bowl on the ground. Gajeel eagerly jumped at it and had demolished what was left in seconds. “That was fast…” she said in awe. The wolf gave her the human equivalent of a mischievous grin. _I pride myself on eatin’… efficiently._  

As a further surprise, the beast plucked the bowl up and dropped it into the alchemist’s lap. “Oh, thank you!” she chirped, stowing it into her bag along with several other items that were left to dry.

Levy let out a content sigh with warmth and a full belly, but then she felt something bump her arm. Glancing that direction, she saw the wolf pressing his head against her. “What is it, boy? Is something wrong?” she frowned, looking at the wolf for any sign of distress.

Gajeel just huffed and laid down near her, head barely on her lap. Confused and concerned, Levy kept eyeing the large mass of black fur, bracing herself as she leaned closer towards the wolf. Then she felt a cold wet nose touch her wrist. Shocked, she lifted her hand and was pleasantly surprised when the wolf headbutted her palm. “Oh? Is that what you want?” she asked, shifting her hand to brush along the top of his head. _Don’t get used to it… Its just nice to have some contact with people. Usually they just run._

“You’re bleeding!” Levy gasped, looking at the sticky red clinging to her fingers. The wolf just let out a pained grumble, “Stay there for a moment. I have something that will help.” _At this point, I don’t care. That was the best food I’ve had since I was human._

Quick fingers found her salves and gently prodded the wolf’s fur with a cloth, finding scabs and hints of blood. Small whines and grumblings were mouthed as she dabbed the clotting blood away before applying her mixtures. It took some time, but the concoctions had finally begun to take effect, leaving a soothing tingle on his skin rather than dull ache.

Levy stroked his head and shoulders once more, but found nothing else. She supposed she could have stopped, but his fur was softer than it looked, demanding her to keep running her hands through it. A soft tune left her lips while gently patting the large wolf’s head for a few minutes until it almost seemed like he was asleep. Gajeel tried not to show how much he was enjoying this, attempting to stay motionless as she kept running her fingers through his fur. 

Then suddenly she stopped, prompting the wolf to lift his head to look at the bluenette. _Why’d ya stop?_ She had shuffled closer to the dying fire, covering herself with the red cloak. Just as he was about to protest, she began to pet the wolf again. _Guess it wouldn’t be a bad time to sleep._

A yawn escaped from Gajeel’s maw and the alchemist returned one of her own. Her hand and breathing slowed with each minute until she finally succumbed to sleep, passing out mid stroke on the wolf’s head. A slight tremor shivered through her hand as the fire finally died.

Gajeel wiggled himself out of her hold and then curled up beside her for the night. _This ought’a keep ya warm fer tonight_. No sooner had he thought that, the maiden snuggled closer to the warmth and let out a tiny sigh. _Hey, don’t get too comfy! This is just fer tonight until I get ya home, then ya need to stop wanderin’ the woods._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone has had a great holiday! I had to redo most of this chapter as well so this chapter was a bit longer than usual. I hope you enjoy the poor touch-starved wolf and a very frustrated and confused alchemist. Y'all are welcome to ask questions if things aren't clear.


	9. Not a Morning Person

The sun shined brightly through the cave ceiling, hitting Gajeel square in the face. _For the love of Mavis, can’t ya shine somewhere else?_ The wolf grumbled loudly at the crack in stone.

It was the best night of sleep he had in quite a while and would have loved a few more minutes of it. He yawned loudly and attempted to sit up, only to realize that something was holding him down. With a death grip.

Panicked, his head swiveled around until he saw a blue bird’s nest and pale arms clinging to his side. _Oh, right…yesterday happened…_

He took a minute to collect his thoughts while observing the bluenette. She looked so peaceful and content. Her hair was wildly sticking out in odd angles. Some drool was on her cheek and cloak, and every once in a while, you could hear a small snore.

Gajeel’s movements seemed to have stirred her a bit as she tried to desperately snuggle closer to the black mass of warmth, a stifled snore muffled by fur. He made an effort to crawl away, but her grip never wavered. _Great, the small one is a leech._

 _Hey._ He prodded her with his wet nose. Nothing.

 _Hey. I need to get up, shrimp._ He nosed her again a little more forcefully. All it earned him was a half-hearted swat and incoherent grumbling.

 _Really? Fine, you asked for it._  A wicked grin crossed Gajeel’s face. _I’ll make ya get up whether ya like it or not._ He thought about the tasty rabbit from the night before and built up as much slobber as he could, then drug his tongue across her face. An immediate response, just as he thought. She squeaked and squirmed to wipe off the slime, letting go of the wolf in favor of rubbing her face. The distraction worked and he was free to slip out, bounding away to the safety of the open cave.

He stretched luxuriously while keeping an eye on a dazed Levy. But much to his disbelief, grabbed her cloak tighter and curled back up to sleep. _Not a morning person? Gi-hee._ _Too bad, we gotta move._ Feeling daring, he walks over and grabs her cloak between his teeth and yanked.

Nothing happened.

Levy had clutched the red cape with a vice grip and mumbling harshly. He tugged the cape again, a little more aggressively this time, and managed to get it partially off before the bluenette had recovered the cloth with lightning reflexes. Growling and curling into a tighter ball, she let out a small rumble under her warm fortress.

 _Damn she has a grip. Feel bad for the guy she gets saddled with. Wait, is she growling at me? The giant freakin’ wolf?_ Sure enough, when he reached for the cloak, she growled again and took a swipe at him.

He gave a growl and bark of his own. _Hey, I’M the big bad wolf here!_

Levy finally lifted her head up and cracked an eye open. Though now, the sweetness usually there had been replaced with a death glare rivaling Mirajane’s. The stare she leveled sent off dark vibes that promised limbs may go missing soon. 

Gajeel growled again, his self-preservation senses not quite firing.  She responded with hiss, teeth bared, and immediately set his fur on edge.  With that she curled the cape around her and plopped down with an undignified thump. He just stood there and gaped at the red lump. Not a moment later he heard a faint snore.

_Shit, she ain’t human!_

Carefully, Gajeel retreated to the safety of the woods. _I’m not dealing with that right now._

_~~~~~_

Today was much better hunting. Within twenty minutes, Gajeel had already caught two hares and gobbled down what he could. _Not as great as last night, but can’t be choosy._

Now, he stretched out his sore muscles in the morning sun. The weird goo the alchemist put on him was caked on his fur and pulled as he moved around, but it was less painful than the previous night. A nagging feeling pulled at him as Lily crossed his mind. _Wonder how he’s holding up…_

Gajeel shook his head clear of worry. _One problem at a time. The small annoying one needs to go home first. Maybe if I bring her stuff she’ll calm down._ She kept some of the parts from the last one, so he figured bringing these two carcasses would suffice. _Or at least look like a peace offering until I dump her at the village…_

Mouth full of fur and bone, he made his way back towards the hidden vale. In the daylight, he had a better view of the surroundings and a peculiar tree caught his eye. The branches were drooping heavily, laden with a sweet-smelling fruit. _Welp, found breakfast fer the shrimp._

Gajeel let out an annoyed sigh as he continued his march towards the cave. _Might as well get this over with…_

Surprisingly, the blue demoness was sitting up when he entered. Bleary doe eyes looked at him and complimented the sweet smile she beamed at him. _The hell?_ “I was wondering where you went. I woke up and you were gone!” 

The wolf snorted. _It was to get away from a tiny monster with an unnerving vice grip._

Wary, he approached her and dropped the rabbit carcasses at her feet. “Oh! I should have known you went out for food,” she grinned. Gajeel quickly retreated to a safe distance, extremely confused as she picked them up and examined them.

“Thank you!” Levy sweetly chimed while she wrapped and stuffed them into the leather bag. He gruffed in response, already by the entrance. “Oh! Is it already time to go?” she mused to herself wistfully. She clutched the staff and breathed deeply before lifting herself up. Wobbly at first, she balanced until she stood on her own.

“Well, the swelling is definitely better than yesterday. Let’s see how long it holds out,” she said, still oddly cheerful compared to her earlier visage. As gracefully as she could, she hobbled towards the wolf, who was tensely eyeing her. Once she was close, he huffed and left the cave ahead of her.

With some difficulty, she crawled out of the root-mangled entrance and stopped in awe. The view was breath-taking. Sunlight filtered through the weeping willow’s long tendrils, a soft green glow. Dragonflies zipped by, skimming the surrounding pond’s surface. Beautiful yellows and pinks dusted the green carpet of grass nestled among a shelter of rock. If she could imagine a place of peace and paradise, this was the closest she could envision.

A bark drew her attention towards a massive shadow near the vale’s entrance, sitting and staring at her. Taking in the sight around her, she ambled towards her guide, entranced by the scenery.

As she finally reached him, he started leading her away towards the tree he saw earlier. They trotted silently along the path, Levy trying to memorize details to find the place again until she spotted a tree laden with fuzzy fruit. “Oh a peach tree!!”

Gajeel just sat under it and grumbled. _I wasn’t going to eat and let ya starve, shrimp. No matter how scary ya get._

Levy eyed him critically for a second before asking, “Why are you so standoffish today? You were so friendly last night. Did I do something wrong?”

The wolf snorted and looked up at the tree to see if any peaches were within reaching distance. _Maybe because I woke up to a gremlin this morning with memory issues._ He gave her a sideways glance and saw the frown forming on her face. _Hmm…I’ll forgive ya this time, but next time ‘round I’m gonna bite ya in the ass._ Seeing a potential victim, Gajeel rose on his hind legs and snapped at the fruit’s supporting branch. With a thump, the peach landed next to Levy.

“Wow! You must have done this a lot with your master!” the alchemist said with awe, picking up her prize. _I’m not a fuckin’ pet…_ Gajeel grumbled as he looked for more low fruit. _I just can’t let ya go hungry, doesn’t sit well with me. That an’ Mira would skin me alive if she ever found out I didn’t take care of some defenseless shrimp like you._ Using his weight, he pushed on one of the branches and managed to knock loose a few more peaches.

“Hey! Watch it, you nearly got me!” _Gi-hee._

~~~~

Soon the two were ready to go, Levy finally having her fill of peaches as well as stuffing a few in her bag for later. Gajeel led the way through the thickets towards Magnolia, the alchemist close behind.

A few hours pass by as they travelled closer to the village, stopping here and there for rest, until they reached familiar hunting pathways. _That’s good, should only take us a couple more hours of walkin’ to get there and the sun should still be up._

Levy’s ankle was slowing them down a bit, but she was keeping up with the wolf like a trooper. If she was in any pain, she didn’t show it. As the day progressed, they needed to break more frequently as the alchemist was tiring out and her ankle showing signs of swelling.

“Ow!” the blunette gasped. The wolf turned around to see the girl slumped on the ground cradling her injured leg. A suspect root was protruding from the ground not far away. _You okay?_ The wolf gave a low grunt and looked at her ankle. “I’m good,” she cringed, “Just need a minute.” She gave a hiss of pain as she stretched her ankle out.

The wolf started grumbling. _No yer not. It’s going to be dark soon and I’m not going to survive another night with you. If I was human I’d be able to carry ya home…wait._

“I swear it feels like you are actually talking to me sometimes,” Levy mused, wincing as she massaged her ankle. Gajeel gave her a pointed deadpan stare before laying down next to her. “I just need a minute. You look so cranky.” He huffed and tugged on her cloak, trying to pull it over him.

“Are you cold?” she asked with concern, picking herself up using a tree. Gajeel shook his head. _I know yer smart enough to figure this out._ This time he nipped at her belt and pulled it closer to his back. The shift in balance made her fall on the wolf’s back. **_Gi-hee._**

Using him as a crutch, she lifted herself back up, “What was that for?” The two stared at each other for a few moments, then Levy started to walk away. A low growl forced her to stop.  “What?” she asked, irritation in her voice.

 _Ya’re so clueless, shrimp. Can ya just go with it? Damn I miss hands._ Gajeel slowly and carefully grabs her wrist between his teeth, careful not to put pressure on the flailing limb, and pulls it over his shoulders.

“Wha… OH!” Levy gasped, “You want me to get on your back?” He huffed and nodded, letting go of her hand. _About damn time! For someone so smart, ya seem dense._ After a little bit of struggling, the alchemist managed to pull her injured leg over the mass of fur and settled as best she can behind the wolf’s shoulders. _Thank Mavis you aren’t heavy._

With a grunt, Gajeel lifted himself from the ground. The bluenette gasped as she wrapped her arms around his neck, damn near strangling him to get her balance. It was odd feeling her against him, or anyone touching him for that matter. She clung to him tightly, pressing her face into his shoulder. _For something so small, why are ya so strong?_

Once he starts moving, she loosened a little to the wolf’s relief and began to enjoy the ride. For a while, all was quiet while he maneuvered his old hunting grounds towards town. He could feel every movement she made as she shifted to look around the wood around them.

“You know, everyone thinks you are some evil spirit haunting the woods and eating people,” Levy stated softly, giving him a small pat on the neck. “But you have only helped me since I met you… well, other than chasing me into a tree.” _You ran the wrong way. I just wanted a nap,_ Gajeel gruffed in response.

“Ever since the King gave his decree on banning magic, people have gotten paranoid of everything. Simple shadows and well-meaning creatures are now considered monsters. Even the hunters are taking contracts to kill innocent magic creatures,” she solemnly lamented. _I know… I was one of those hunters once upon a time… now I’m one of the hunted._

Levy sighed, “I wish I could understand you.” She reached up and patted his head before continuing, “I bet you have so many stories to share! Maybe why you are out here when you’re too well behaved to be wild.” _Well behaved, huh? Yer too smart, Shrimp._  With an inward grin, Gajeel leapt forward into a sprint, erratically rushing down the tree-laden paths at top speed.  Levy barely wrapped her arms around the wolf, shrieking at all the sudden turns until he finally stopped in his tracks a few minutes later.

“Nevermind, behaved is not the word I was looking for,” gasped a disheveled Levy. Panting, Gajeel gave his odd laugh before plopping down in a heaving pile. “Tired yourself out, huh?” the alchemist giggled and the wolf snorts with annoyance. _Why don’t you carry me and run a couple miles?_ Still smothering a laugh, the girl removed herself off the wolf and gingerly sat down next to him. Her ankle was still pretty swollen, but now they were fairly close to Magnolia.

Suddenly, the wolf sat straight up and stopped breathing, his ears swiveled in several directions before turning to the confused girl. _Welp, our time’s up, Shrimp. T’was nice chasing you, but I gotta go. And for the love of Mavis, stay out of the wood._ Gajeel took his chance to give the blue-haired girl a lick on the cheek and then bounded off into the woods the way they came.

“Hey! Wait! Wolf?!” Levy shouted at the retreating figure, hand wiping the slobber he left. His tail was the last thing she saw as he went behind a wall of shrubs. She tried standing up to follow. Unfortunately, her ankle wouldn’t hold the weight and she fell down defeated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys like this chapter! Levy is not a morning person and was fun to write that way. 'morning Levy' will be seen again in more detail later XD If you have questions or suggestions, let me know! Would love to hear from you guys!


	10. Helping Hands and Bitter Pain

Levy sighed deeply into the now silent forest air. It felt almost colder without the wolf near. “Best not dwell on it I guess…,” she murmured to herself. Looking above, the sky had started to melt with various warm hues to signal the sun’s departure. “I still have to make it home…”

A twinge of pain called her attention back to her swollen ankle. The wrapping had become undone sometime during the wild ride, loosely pooling under the joint. It took a bit, but she managed to rewrap it despite the awkward angles. Sweat beaded her brow as she worked through the throbbing, trying her best not to flinch or jerk.

As she tucked the final piece inside, she heard a sound. A voice? No… two voices… two very familiar voices…

“Levy! Levy are you out here?!”

The bluenette let out a bittersweet sigh of relief. She was happy someone could help and she didn’t have to walk alone, though she rather have the company of the wolf.

“Why would she be out here? This isn’t the path she usually takes!” a disgruntled voice argued.

“Because I told her the other night that I saw some elderberries over here?” another one defended.

“That’s dumb, she’d only stay on the main path. You heard Mira!” the first voice barked.

Inwardly groaning, she took a sharp deep breath and screamed, “Jet! Droy! I’m over here!” She needed to break them up now before their arguing drowned out all sound. Then she was sure she would have stayed out here.

“Oh, Mavis! Its Levy! See, I told you!” Droy exclaimed excitedly a fair distance away.

Hurried footsteps were coming her direction and she sighed. If they squabbled the whole way home, she may just knock them unconscious and find her own way home. They were really sweet and thoughtful guys. It just became too intense when she was the subject of any arguments and she really didn’t want to deal with that tonight on top of her misadventures.

When the two came into view, they dashed towards her at top speed. Jet reached her first and picked her up in a tight hug, “Levy! I’m so glad we found you!” It wasn’t a second later before she was given a second crushing hug by Droy.

“Owww… I missed you guys too, but please! Watch the ankle!” she hissed. Jet and Droy both jumped back with such intensity that it appeared she burned them.  “You guys weren’t supposed to be out looking for me for another few hours. Did Mira send you early?”  The two gave a sideways glance between them.

“No… we were going hunting!” Jet laughed awkwardly as he took off his bag. He rummaged through it while Droy moved Levy over to a fallen log nearby to inspect her leg.

“And if we happened to run into you unexpectedly, then we could escort you home!” Droy finished almost as awkwardly. “So, what happened to your ankle, Levy? That looks pretty bad.” His demeanor turned very serious as he looked at the damage while Jet handed him some bandages and salves.

Levy gave them a deadpan look, “You always bring this much first aid on hunting trips?” Jet rubbed his neck while Droy grunted a dismissal in favor of properly rewrapping the joint. “Anyway, I tripped on a stray root and got tangled up on it.” She was hoping they would buy this story more readily than ‘I ran into a tree and trap being chased by a wolf because I went to the wrong part of the woods’. They were already worried enough as it is.

“You need to be more careful, Levy. This is going to take a couple days to heal, and that’s if you don’t walk on it.” Droy secured the wrapping and stood up, bringing Levy with him.

“Take some of your pain salve, too.” Jet handed her a small bottle that she downed with a wince and gag. She really needed to make something that would go down easier… Maybe a sweetner?

“I know,” she said quietly, still swallowing down the bitter taste. She reached down for the staff and wobbled forward, but was stopped by both guys. “What?”

“For one, we just told you not to walk,” Jet started with a stern look. “Droy should carry you the rest of the way. He’s sturdier than I am.  I’ll just take the bags and stuff.”

“Fine…,” the girl sighed, relinquishing her hold on the staff to the red-head. She turned to Droy, who had already bent down to pick her up.

“Umm, Levy?” Jet gave her a worried look, pointing at the staff. “Why are there teeth marks on this?”

“And why are there teeth marks on your cape?” Droy’s face paled as he lifted up the edge of her cape that the wolf pulled on. “Were you attacked by a wild animal?”

“NO,” Levy said, probably a little too forcefully. Their faces told her clearly that she was not believed. “Okay, I ran into someone’s dog in the woods and we played fetch.” It was mostly the truth, and best if they didn’t know too much.

“How big was this dog, Levy?” Jet was staring at her incredulously, the disbelief obvious in his voice. “Those teeth marks are really spread out for just a dog and a normal one wouldn’t be fetching a five-foot staff.”

“It was a dog. He was big, but most things are big to me, Jet.” Levy was straining not to sound too annoyed as they pestered her for more details until finally she snapped. “Can I just go home, please?”

“Yeah…” both hunters grumbled with deflated looks. A glance between the two told her the conversation wasn’t quite over, but they withdrew for now.

Jet led the way while Droy lifted Levy to a comfortable position and started following.  She peered back at the woods one last time. The evening shadows obscured anything that might have resembled her furry companion, and she frowned at the loss of her new-found friend.

When she turned to face forward, Levy swore a set of red eyes from a distant bush glinted at her. She blinked and they were gone. Eagerly she scanned the area, but came up short. “Whatcha looking for?” Droy asked.

“Nothing,” she sighed, “I just thought I saw some herbs, but it was just some common weeds.” She gave him a half smile to reassure him. It was better they didn’t know about the wolf. The last thing she wanted was for him to be hunted down for helping her.

~~~

Gajeel didn’t go too far when he heard the hunters approaching, but he couldn’t have the girl following him. His last round with the town’s hunters didn’t go so well, but he wanted to make sure the Shrimp was taken care of, or at least found. 

He nearly cursed when he saw the two hunters coming into view. _No… not these idiots. It was bad enough when they nearly killed me._

“Levy!” one shouted. _Well, at least I know Shrimp’s name now. Wait… wasn’t that the name of the girl that those two couldn’t stop fawning over??_ He didn’t have to wait long to get his answer as both ran up to hug the girl before noticing her leg. She didn’t look too pleased to see them and Gajeel caught her casual glance to where he disappeared. _Sorry shorty, it wouldn’t be a great idea to come out now._

Once they patched her up they started to move out but then found the teeth marks. _Damn, now they are going to know I’m back._

He ground his teeth together and cursed his stupidity until he heard the girl lie to them. _What?_ He stared blankly at the girl until he registered what she said. _Smart shrimp._ He grinned, watching the hunters question the girl until she put her foot down.

_About freakin’ time!_ Gajeel silently cheered as they travelled in the direction of town. He can finally get a quiet nap with no fuckin’ distractions or small person annoying him.

Taking one last look at the group, he saw the girl look in his direction with the most longing look. _Aww don’t make that face Shrimp, we barely knew each other and I already know I couldn’t survive you._

With a swish of his tail, he headed back to the bridge where this all started.

~~~

Thankfully, the trip back home was quiet with a comment here and there about herb sightings along the trails. Levy was determined to keep the conversation away from her mishap in the forest and it seemed the guys caught on. Eventually they made it to the tree-line, signaling the start of town. It didn’t take long for the hunters to get her home since her house and shop was so close to this side of Magnolia.

“Are you sure you will be fine?” Droy asked once they reached her door. Both hunters shared another knowing look as Levy nodded, already feeling the full effects of the pain salve. She hadn’t quite worked out the drowsiness from the recipe, but another problem for another day.

“We will just be at Mira’s pub if you need us or her, okay?” Jet smiled faintly. Levy just nodded again only half hearing him as she unlocked her door and hobbled in.

She gave them a sleepy smile, “Thanks for your help, guys. It was a pretty long walk from where I was hurt, and I’m not sure I could have made it by myself.”

“No worries!” Droy beamed. “You go get some rest, Levy.”  She nodded again and closed the door, locking the world out.

Her room was upstairs above her shop and she frowned at the thought of climbing stairs. Luckily, she had a couch for guests and patrons to wait on in her store. Shuffling over, she unceremoniously dropped onto the sofa and passed out.

An odd dream took over.

She was being carried, and had a conversation with someone about wolves and flowers.

A warm, soft feeling.

A kiss to her forehead while someone was talking in such a soothing voice.

The smell of mead, stew and lavender.

The sound of shuffling paper, the feeling of weightlessness, and the color of gold.

Then nothing but comforting darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> She finally makes it home >_< More Gajevy interactions soon! You know now he has a taste, he has to come back, mwhahaha. Sorry this is a short chapter in comparison to the last few. I started working on a one shot for a different fandom and got carried away. I hope you enjoy this one nevertheless!


	11. Of Dreams and Flowers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More scolding and a pleasant surprise.

“Levy? Are you awake? I brought you some food,” a high feminine voice sang before a soft knocking echoed off her wooden door.  The alchemist grumbled a reply before wrapping herself tighter in the blanket on her.

Wait... When did she get a blanket out?

Levy’s eyes snapped open. She wasn’t on the couch. Instead the familiar book-lined walls greeted her vision as well as the billowy white curtains that fluttered above her head. She sat up rigidly, gathering her bearings and trying to recall exactly how she managed to get here.

Somehow, she had made it up to her room on the second story and got into bed. A feat not quite feasible with her leg and more so with her tired state. Even pure determination wouldn’t have helped the cause. Her ankle twinged in pain at the thought, forcing a slight wince to cross her face.

Looking around, she saw her soiled clothes in a pile by the door and her cloak hung above on its hook. Before she could comprehend much more, the door opened to show platinum and blonde-haired maidens holding mugs and bowls.

“Good Morning!” the two chimed in unison upon entering.

“Or late afternoon rather!” chuckled Lucy, walking towards the bundled girl with a well-crafted blue bowl. Mira sat her handful of mugs on a nearby table and began uncorking a flask.

“Morning,” Levy mumbled as Lucy sat the bowl on her nightstand, “I’m confused.” A creamy mush was inside with tell-tale signs of honey and cinnamon.

“Well, this is a bowl of oatmeal,” the blonde said, pointing at the blue ceramic.

“No, not that,” the bluenette scowled, “I don’t know how I got up here? And why are you bringing me things?”

“Oh!” Mira exclaimed, “That was my doing! Jet and Droy came in last night to the bar and were worried about you. They said you were injured and rather tired.” She handed Levy a mug that smelled heavenly.

“So, she rounded me up and we came by to see if you were okay,” the blonde interrupted. “We found you haphazardly sprawled on the couch and completely out cold. Mira carried you upstairs and I got you into some decent clothes.”

The alchemist took a sip of the concoction while she pieced together the previous night. The mixture was a specialty of Mira’s for hangovers and non-morning people, made from a tropical bean and jumble of tea leaves.

“Well, I guess that makes sense. How did you get in though? I locked the door behind me,” Levy mumbled.

Lucy blushed deeply, “I may have gotten in through your bedroom window.”

“Really? I need to just get you a key.” The bluenette sighed, “I think your pink haired friend is rubbing off on you.” Lucy turned a deeper shade of pink and hurriedly began browsing Levy’s small library.

“Anyway,” Mira started, “we are glad you are okay and it was nothing too serious. We just wanted to check in and help a bit while you have some bed rest.” The barmaid’s smile was blinding as she started to pick up the pile of dirtied clothes. Her nose twitched slightly before looking towards Levy with a concerned look, “Levy, why do your clothes have fur on them and smell like wet dog?”

Lucy turned back suddenly, holding several books, “Speaking of dogs, what was all this about a wolf last night? Did you see one out there? You kept mumbling about one last night.” The two ladies were pinning Levy down with concerned stares, daring her to say it was nothing.

“It was nothing.” Levy gulped under their combined glares. “It was just someone’s dog in the woods. We were playing and I tripped over some roots.” She shrugged and started guzzling the cooled liquid energy in her hands.

Hands on her hips, Mira snorted, “Nuh-uh, I need more than that. Jet showed me the staff with the teeth marks too. Why would a lone dog be in the woods playing fetch with you?” The barmaid was getting a scary look in her eye that sent a quiver through Levy.

“Look, I’m not sure where his owner was.” Levy said defensively, “He was very determined to get me out of the woods.”

Mira gave an exasperated sigh, “Fine, as long as you didn’t run into any trouble.” The stance the white-haired woman took still said she doesn’t believe the bluenette, but is letting it drop. She had seen this stance several times when the Strauss siblings were arguing.

“You should hear the stories some of the hunters shared with me about a wolf chasing them from the deep wood,” Lucy chimed in. “They made it sound like the devil itself was chasing them, barely letting them escape while it laughed at their misfortune. You better count your lucky stars that you didn’t run into it!”

“Yeah,” the alchemist sighed, “This dog might have been mistaken for a wolf though. He was pretty big, had raven fur, and red eyes like garnets.” Mira’s eyes grew wide and both were slack-jawed.

Words failed them as the two stared at Levy in awkward silence.

Finally, the blonde broke the silence, “WHAT?!”

Lucy’s knuckles clutching the books were turning white and she was visibly quivering. A vein throbbed above her temple as she leveled a scathing glare at the alchemist.

Mira had long since dropped the clothes and was bracing herself against the door, ashen faced and shaken. A single tear fell down her pale cheek. Levy couldn’t help wince when she pulled on the door handle and left the room.

“I don’t understand what the big deal is, Lucy. That dog was really well behaved and never hurt me. He even brought me rabbits to eat one night,” the bluenette sighed and looked to the discarded clothes. “That reminds me, I need to work on those rabbit feet, which I think are still in my bag…”

The blonde rounded on Levy, “The big deal? The big deal is that we’ve already lost too many people to those woods. We don’t like having to send search parties for people and to top it off, you got hurt. It was only a twisted ankle this time, but- but--,” Lucy’s tirade ended with her sobbing and hugging Levy… more like squeezing the life out of her.

Patting her friend, the blunette whispered softly, “I’m sorry, Lucy. I didn’t mean to worry you guys so much. I’m not some delicate flower that needs constant attention though. I wanted to do this myself.” The blonde sat up, wiping tears away and gave Levy a small smile.

“I know, you have always been amazing like that,” Lucy gave a gentle squeeze to the alchemist’s arm, “Just, please take one of the hunters next time you’re traveling through the wood. You know the boys mean well, but you can always take Elfman or Jellal for a change of pace.”

“Okay,” Levy sighed. She glanced at the door with a sour frown, “Tell Mira I’m sorry too. She looked pretty upset and I have plenty to work on today to keep me busy.”

“I will,” the blonde nodded, “Are you sure you will be okay?”

Levy nodded back, “I have some work orders for some hunts in the next few days. No heavy lifting or much walking. Sound good to you?”

“Yeah, I can live with that,” Lucy grinned, “I’ll come by tomorrow morning to see how you’re doing. See ya later, Levy.”  The storyteller reached over and kissed Levy’s forehead before heading out the door.

Once she was sure both women were gone, she face-planted into her pillow and debated on where to start. A muffled groan erupted as she suddenly remembered why she couldn’t do orders. Her basket. She had left it near the bridge before the wolf chased her. “I guess it’s just reading on the agenda today… damn it.”

~~~

Gajeel trotted most of the night along the backwoods and old paths until he finally reached the bridge. Fortunately, it was uneventful under a clear sky. Once he was on the wooden structure he sniffed the air tentatively. He couldn’t smell kiwi, so Lily must have moved on to another part of the wood.

Exhausted, he slid down the creek bank to his cozy spot under the bridge and curled up in a ball. Soon he was lost to sleep, but tossed and turned restlessly. Images of a particularly small girl with blue hair had haunted him through the night. Just before dawn, he woke up for the tenth time and finally gave up getting decent sleep. He laid there thinking about his most recent adventure.

The shrimp had been a nice change of pace from the past few months. Being around her was like a breath of fresh air. In all honesty, he missed being around his brother and other people. Hell, the close contact was even nice and he hated touching other people that weren’t Lily.

 _What am I thinking? I’m a damn wolf, not a cuddle puppy._ Gajeel snorted and looked to the heavens. The moon was about three quarters full and slowly sinking in the sky. _Gah, I still have a few days before the full moon._

Yawning, he rose and stretched, bumping into something behind him. Startled, he jumped away and sniffed the air.

It smelled like flowers. Pawing the ground, he felt the area until he hit the culprit.

 _Oh… forgot about this._ He grabbed the handle of a woven basket with his teeth and pulled it out into the light of the coming dawn. _What’s all in here? It smells like a freakin garden._

Gajeel nosed open the basket and was immediately assaulted by the sheer amount of smells. There were so many different plants, but mostly lavender. _Oh damn, what does she need all of this for?_ Sneezing, he shut the basket’s lid and moved far away from it.

_I can’t sleep, can’t think, and now there’s a fuckin’ basket that is drivin’ my nose mad. Augh…_

The wolf looked at his spot under the bridge and then back at the basket. The water was gurgling nearby, giving him an idea but quickly stamped that out. _Even if I_ _drown the damn thing, the shrimp probably needed it for something._ Huffing, he stared intently at the offending object.

_I could take it to her…_

He flinched and headbutted one of the wooden support beams to shake the thought out of his head. _What am I thinkin’? That was a one-time thing and I need to guard the bridge._

He snorted at himself and caught a whiff of lavender. _Can’t sleep with that thing here… and all I would do is drop it off and go. Shouldn’t be too hard to find the Shrimp’s house._ _Quick and easy. Yeah…_

Making up his mind, he whirled around on the basket determined to make it disappear.  His eye caught the purple flower the girl was interested in the day before.

 _Why not. Maybe she will have some food or somethin’ for me to snag too._ _Just gotta be careful ta not get caught._

Carefully, he uprooted the flower and painfully tucked it into the basket with all the other overpowering smells. Then he secured the basket in his maw before trotting yet again towards Magnolia.

_Can’t a man just sleep in peace?_

_~~~_

Levy had a rather uneventful afternoon once she coaxed herself out of bed. The oatmeal Lucy left was amazing on her empty stomach and the brew Mira brought had given her life. The swelling on her ankle was down to an almost unnoticeable level when she rewrapped it, and found she could hobble around the room comfortably.

Sighing, she gazed at her door downstairs with a pout. Her bag with the rabbit carcasses were still down there and if she didn’t do something with them soon, they’d rot. She would have to go down sooner or later anyway for more food.

Outside the threshold of her room were the dreaded stairs… She worried her bottom lip as she thought of the best way to safely get down. Even though her foot was better, she couldn’t risk overestimating the injury but she couldn’t just stand here staring either.

Grappling the wall, she slowly slid herself down step by step, easing up when her ankle would bump the wood. Eventually she made it downstairs uninjured and set to work.

With one fell swoop, she scooped up her bag and headed towards her workshop table. Other than a couple glass vials, she remembered to clean it off before she headed out and pulled the carcasses out.

With practiced fingers and a sharp knife, she cut the bones of the rabbit feet and put them in a pile for later. She then cleaned the rest of the hare, picking out usable bones to sell and cleaning the pelts. The rest of the visera she threw into a pot outside, making a note to give it to Elfman for fish bait. Once clean, she put the bones into a jar for Lucy to use for jewelry and put the skins into a satchel to sell at the market.

Since the King’s decree, all magical beings and users have been banned from the country. Many were rounded up and removed from the realm. Levy’s work was only just tolerable in the eyes of the King’s men. Her balms and remedies had some merit. However, the residents of Magnolia were also very superstitious and often used animal parts for charms despite the decree.

Dirty work done, Levy moved over to the couch, procuring a book from one of the cushions as she plopped down. She stared at the book for several minutes, reading the same paragraph four times before deciding that the distraction was not enough. Sighing, she leaned back and threw her arm over her eyes, dropping the book on the back of the sofa. Several minutes passed by before she heard a loud thump on her door.

A startled yelp escaped from her as she clutched the side of the couch. Another thump and then silence. Slowly, Levy inched towards the door and looked out the window beside it.

Nothing was there.

Curious, she opened the door and gasped. Sitting on her doorstep was her woven basket with all the herbs from the trip. Scanning the area, she saw a flash of red eyes through the brush in the tree-line near her house.

“Wolf?” 

She heard a soft familiar snort and caught a glimpse of black fur above the bushes. “Wait!” The furry mass halted and finally revealed its head above the bush.

Levy grabbed the staff by the door and hobbled towards the wolf, who had cocked his head in confusion. “Thank you,” the bluenette grinned.

_Yeah, yeah. You’re welcome._

The girl held out her hand and Gajeel bowed his head. _Just a couple for the road. Yer not going to see me again after this, but thanks for covering for me yesterday._

Levy smiled wide as she pet his head and ears until the wolf huffed and stood up. He pointed towards her house with his snout and she followed his direction.

“What?” Taking this opportunity, he headbutted her back with a good push towards the house. _Ya need to rest up with that bum foot._

“Fine. Fine, I’m going. Be careful though,” she said with a soft smile. She shuffled with a giggle towards her house, peeking back at the wolf all the while.

Gajeel watched her head towards her shop until she reached the door, then he turned tail and left.

Levy sighed as the wolf left her sight and picked up the basket on her way through the threshold. She immediately got to work drying her herbs. Opening the basket, she was pleasantly surprised to see the mystery flower that started all her trouble with the wolf.

“Smart wolf.” Smiling to herself, she finally started to get to work on her orders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woooo another weekend, another chapter! Reworking part of the story, and for now I have about 3-4 more updates before I take a month-long hiatus to work on the second arc. I hope you enjoy this chapter!


	12. Memories and Misgivings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Serious fluff before things get real

Two days had passed since his trip to Magnolia and he still hasn’t had one decent night’s sleep. Not only that, this stupid deer he was chasing was leading him in circles and had crossed the creek several times to outmaneuver him. Eventually, he chased it to the old hunting grounds near the village.

_Why… can’t ya… stay still?_

He nearly had it several times, but the damn thing would turn at the last second and get just a hair out of reach. He did manage to nick it, which definitely helped with tracking, but once it hit the water again, it was back to square one. Finally, he was just done and plopped on the ground panting. The drive to hunt was lost and he’d have to find a rabbit or something later on his way back.

Between each pant, a familiar scent hit him hard and he spun his head to look for the source. Finding nothing, he laid back down only for the smell of ink and lavender to hit him again.

 _Great… now I’m delusional from lack of sleep. That shrimp really did a number on me._ Then another wave of lavender hit him again. _Okay, I’m not that delusional._

Suddenly, an acorn hit him square on the nose and then a giggle erupted from above him. Craning his neck, he could see a familiar red cloak and a bright-eyed Levy in the branches of the tree above him.

 _Well at least your aim is better and I guess your foot too._ Gajeel gave her a small bark in acknowledgement and laid back down. His lounging was cut short as his fur bristled.

 _Wait, you have any bodyguards this time?_ He let a small growl and sniffed the air. Nothing but lavender and ink. He stood up and started to pace around the tree for any sign of threats.

“Don’t worry, it’s just me,” Levy grinned. “They should know that I hate being escorted like a porcelain doll. I’m a master escape artist when I want to be.”

Gajeel stopped and eyed her warily. _Yer scary, ya know that? Also, stupid. If Mira finds ya, yer a dead woman._ “I was out here to get some more herbs and saw some moss up here and then you appeared out of nowhere!” she excitedly gabs.

 _It was the stupid deer._ “Anyway, I have something for you for bringing me my basket the other day!” Jumping from her perch, she landed almost smoothly as she staggered back upright. “Just give me a moment…” she trailed off, digging through her bag.

The smell hit him first and he barely contained himself from barreling over her to get to the prize. In her hand was a large wrapped package, slightly bleeding from the bottom. He knew it was beef before she even tried to unwrap it, his snout drooling in anticipation.

The few seconds of her unwrapping that deliciousness were excruciating until she held up the raw meat to him. “Here you go!” Her smile was dazzling as she set the mostly unwrapped package on the ground.

 _Oh Mavis, you are a goddess. I was starving and this is beef. BEEF. Steak have I missed you…_ The wolf eagerly dug into the flesh while Levy sat down against the tree to check on her ankle. It didn’t take too long for Gajeel to eat the whole flank before him. Before he knew it, he was happily laying down to nurse his food baby.

Levy took this chance to stroke his luxurious dark fur. Gajeel let out a lazy hum of approval as she petted the top of his head and down his neck. Then she started rubbing circles in his ears and he groaned at how good the soft pressure felt. _I may have to keep you around… this has been a pretty amazing turnaround to the last few months..._

 The alchemist saw how lax he was becoming and decided to hum a small tune. It was enchanting and vaguely familiar to the wolf, but Gajeel couldn’t concentrate much. The song was lulling the poor wolf asleep. Soon his breathing evened out and his eyes stayed closed.

Once she was sure he was asleep, she leaned into the tree behind her to think about the last week. She was furious when the men told her that she couldn’t even go into the wood around town, and all due to the harmless canine sleeping next to her. She didn’t know what to say to sway their minds about him. The wolf was the epitome of harmless as only a comfortable animal would fall asleep next to a human. If they could see them now, maybe it would change their minds.

Honestly, it was a shock to find him this close to Magnolia given how far out he usually is seen. Then again, he did bring her the basket pretty easily. The problem was the traps the hunters set out in the last couple days to capture him. She sighed, softly moving her hands through the thick fur on his neck.

“I better go before they notice I’m gone…” the maiden mumbled to herself.

She took in the peaceful sight of the wolf’s gentle breathing and closed eyes. Leaning over, she gave him a small kiss on the forehead, earning a small twitch before his breath evened out again. “Please be careful…” In a swift motion, she rose and tiptoed away, careful not to disturb the sleeping giant.

~~~~

Opening an eye, Gajeel scanned the area blearily. It was already dark and dare he say that was the best nap he had in a long time.

Out of habit, he sniffed the air and only caught lingering traces of lavender and blood. Both eyes snapped open once he remembered how he fell asleep and whirled his head around. He didn’t catch any sight of the bluenette, only the packaging for the steak.

 _Well good ta know that wasn’t a dream._ Caught between a sigh and a yawn, the wolf stretched out and felt his paws touch the wrapping where the only thing left was a long bone with some traces of sinew. _At least I won’t be bored chewing on that._

Gazing skyward he could see that the moon waxing closer to the dreaded full moon. _One more night. I freakin’ hate that damn thing._

He looked around the area again, and quickly gathered his bearings. _Well looks like I’m closer than I thought. Might as well pick it up for tomorrow._

With one last stretch, he lifted himself off the ground towards an old familiar trail, bone secured firmly in mouth. Seeing his old house again was something he wanted to get over with and done. It just wasn’t the same without Lily and he hated being there during a full moon, especially now with all the hunters trying to find him.

It took some maneuvering around some sneaky traps that were obviously meant for him, but Gajeel finally made it to the stone and wood structure after a couple hours.

As it came into view, his ears drooped and tail slightly tucked. A dull pain started to pool in his chest when he took faltering steps towards the large studded door. _No… I’m still too much of a coward to use the front door._

Shaking his head, he veered to the side of the house where their cellar was. Setting down the bone, he easily yanked the chain holding the hatch closed. Since they both turned into beasts, he left it unlocked for this reason. _I feel like I’m stealing every time I come here… Lily’s a prisoner and I can just waltz through free…_ Giving a sorrowful huff, he grabbed his bone and went through the open cellar.

Once inside, he traced his steps like clockwork every month. Normally he would stay here the duration of the full moon, but with the hunters doubling efforts in the area it wasn’t as safe.  Any one of them could come by and see it was occupied, especially since he wasn’t the quiet type.

The kitchen was cold and lifeless as he nosed his way through the cellar door. The wolf deposited his bone in one of the lower cupboards before making his way to the living room.

The furniture was tattered and clawed in most places. The windows were dusty with fresh cobwebs and the furnace was cold with long burnt logs crumbling to ash. Weary, he crawled up onto one of the tattered sofas and felt small with the bombarding memories of simpler times.

This place used to be warm with laughter and comfort. Sure, the sofas were old and falling apart anyway but they were familiar and lived in, making them cozy. Now they were just remnants of a life lost, riddled with claw and teeth marks and barely holding together. Gajeel sighed as the sofa creaked under his weight.

The wolf laid there for nearly half an hour, wallowing in self-pity, until he finally rolled off the poor couch. It was time to collect what he came here for and get out before dawn.

Taking a hallway opposite of the kitchen, Gajeel passed a slightly closed door. Stopping briefly, he nosed it open to get a good view. This room had a green-sheeted bed with weapons and an array of armours. It hasn’t been touched since that fateful night, the smell of kiwis growing fainter each passing month. With a hushed whine the wolf turned back towards the hallway and continued down to the door at the end.

With a deep breath, the Gajeel pushed the door open with his forehead. Inside was a dark-sheeted bed with even more claw marks than those in the living area. The mirror was cracked, clothing was shredded on the floor, and many objects were thrown and broken around the room.

If he didn’t know better, he would say it looked like a looter raided his room. But alas, this was all his doing. His blood had dried where he destroyed his mirror, his armor had teeth marks embedded in the leather, and his weapons were either stuck in a wall or pierced through the floor.

Inching his way towards the bed, he stopped to reach into a nearby wall and set his teeth around a smaller weapon and yanked. It was one of his black steel knives that he swiftly threw onto his bed. Next, he sauntered over to what used to be his closet. The door supposed to be sealing it was sitting haphazardly nearby with the hinges ripped out. Inside, he rummaged through the ruined armor until he found what he was looking for.

As soon as he wrapped his maw around the leather bag, he leapt towards the bed and maneuvered it and the dagger into his mouth and started trotting towards the cellar exit. Using his massive shoulders, he nudged the cellar hatch open and headed back to the forest.

If he was paying attention, Gajeel would have noticed that the air smelled wet and the stars were no longer shining. Unfortunately, he was totally consumed with his thoughts when a downpour started.

_Damnit. The cave is too far away._

A flash of light illuminated the sky in front of him. He thinks he saw a tree fall at the base of the strike, but his mind blanked in terror as the following peal of thunder rendered him nearly deaf.

 ** _BOOMmmm_**.

Immediately he clenched his teeth together as hard as he could and started hyperventilating through his nose. His claws grounded into the soft mud and he tried not to buckle from loss of balance.

**_BOOMmmm._ **

His mind went completely white.

Gathering what senses he had left, the wolf ran towards the direction of town, away from the lightning strikes.

Trees were a blur, and the only thing keeping him sane was the overpowering scent of lavender.

His body becoming numb and weak with every strike. Breathing erratic, the wolf’s heart hammered in his chest.

**_BOOMmmm._ **

His thoughts and reasoning went completely to the wayside as terror drove him into a desperate frenzy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really loved this chapter. You can see where the two are becoming more friends and how they bond. You also get more Gajeel dealing with his 'failure.' This time of the month hurts and will be further explained in coming chapters! Also the last bit, panic attacks are scary and I drew from my own personal exp to write this one. I hope you enjoyed it!


	13. Stormy Nights and Tattered Words

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Panic and backstory for our favorite wolf.

Levy couldn’t sleep. She tried milk, and honey. She also tried reading. Nothing. It was well past sundown and her mind just would not shut off. The wolf was in her mind almost constantly, and nothing was letting her get away to rest.

To be somewhat productive in her sleep deprivation, she worked on processing the herbs she collected that day. The lavender from her previous adventure was finally dry enough to start grounding into powder, and it was tedious work that she hoped would make her tired enough to finally sleep.

When she came back earlier that day, Mira was tapping her foot at her door with a scowl. She came by to pick up some herbal teas for her special brew and found the alchemist gone. After much placating, the barmaid had left with only injuring Levy’s ears from all the scolding.

Unfortunately, that meant she could no longer avoid having company on her excursions. She frowned at the thought that she couldn’t meet with the wolf anymore and let out an exasperated sigh. That damn wolf had left a lasting impression on her. She couldn’t explain the strong pull towards him, which would make this separation even more painful for her.  She had many friends in Magnolia, but nothing like a companion the wolf had seemed to become.

“Stupid wolf,” she muttered, “Maybe I should get a cat…”

**_BOOOMMmm_. **

Levy gasped at the sudden loudness filling the air, dropping her pestle and clutching her chest.

“Oh geez… I forgot we were having a storm tonight. Guess I’m not sleeping anytime soon.” Taking deep breath, she started back on her grinding. “At least I’m being productive,” she mumbled and continued to go through her stash of dried plants as the storm kept letting loose rolls of thunder.

A sudden cacophony of noises erupted from her cellar room after a string of lightning strikes. Scraping and banging could be heard through the door and she timidly reached for a nearby poker. Hands shaking, she inched closer towards the wooden frame and debated if she should call for help or go in herself.

“I can do this! I’m not fragile,” she harshly whispered at the shadowed wood. Breathing shallow, she reached over for a lit lantern and touched the door gingerly. It creaked open under her feather touch and she saw nothing but darkness below. Raising the weapon, she cautiously made her way down the stairs.

She stifled a sharp gasp when she heard heavy breathing from the darker corner of the basement. A slam forced her to look towards the cellar hatch, which was slightly askew on its hinges and rattling in the wind.

A small rustle returned her attention to the presence in the room and she lifted the poker to fight. Inching closer, she steeled herself until heard a whimper among the heavy breathing. Her heart thudded loudly in anticipation as she lifted the lantern.

In the candlelight, she saw a hulking dark mass quivering. A flash of red eyes forced a gasp as she dropped the poker and rushed towards the huddled wolf.

**_BOOMmm._ **

The wolf’s eyes grew wide in panic and a loud snarl escaped from his maw as Levy held out a hand to soothe him, “Shh… shh… It’s okay.”

**_BOOMmm._ **

Crazed, the wolf only saw a threat as he snapped white fangs at the hand reaching towards him. “Oof, watch it!” the bluenette gasped, “You need to calm down.”  A low growl rumbled from the black beast in response.

Levy stared into his crimson eyes to recall what hunters told her about calming scared animals. “Oh! Hmm… Something soft to wrap around them...” the alchemist mused while looking around. Most of what she stored down here were mushrooms, the bulk of her herbs, and some seasonal things. Her wandering eyes finally landed on a set of quilts she used in the winter. “That should work.”

Setting down her lantern, she slowly moved backwards towards the shelf under the stairs. Never breaking eye contact, she pulled the quilt down and started creeping back towards the growling wet lump of fur. Deliberately, she opened the quilt as the distance between them shrunk and threw the blanket over him. He immediately started thrashing around to escape the from the new threat.

**_BOOMmmmmm._ **

Levy jumped towards the desperate animal and did her best to wrap the blanket around him to immobilize his legs.

 ** _BOOMmmmm_**.

She finally managed to pin the wolf’s forelegs in the quilt as the last of the thunder rolled through, but had managed to free his head. On instinct, Gajeel snapped at the threat and then heard a scream, tasting copper.

Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks as she clawed at the wolf’s jaw around her arm, “Stop! Let go!” A moment of clarity hit Gajeel as he finally heard sobbing and something shattered in him as he recognized who it was his teeth were sunk into.

_Oh shit._

Another sob and hiss of pain reached him as fangs released from her pale skin. Before he could see the damage, she pulled the quilt over his head and tightly wound her arms around him. Tears blurred her vision as she held on to the now trembling and whimpering wolf, blood oozing from her wound onto the quilt.

**_BOOMMmm._ **

The wolf yelped and thrashed, but was effectively immobilized as Levy finished kicking the quilt under his hindlegs and wrapped her own around his midsection. Hyperventilating, Gajeel could only smell lavender surrounding him and feel her body shivering with each sob.

Levy had noticed early on that he would thrash more after a lightning strike and tensed when she saw a flash in anticipation of the wolf’s struggle. Every roar of lightning temporarily made him senseless, but each time he thrashed less and less until he only flinched at the retreating storm.

Still in pain, she started humming to keep her mind off her arm. Only then did he realize that the voice coming through the blanket was humming, albeit stained, a hauntingly familiar tune. Eventually the wolf stopped flinching all together and she could feel his midsection rise and fall at an even pace.

~~~

Once the storm completely passed, she carefully unwrapped herself from the sleeping beast and hissed slightly when she pulled away from the blanket.

She couldn’t see her arm too well in the low lighting, but she could tell that it probably looked as bad as it felt. It throbbed painfully as she stood and stretched, even more so when she flinched at the cellar door knocking in a gust of wind. Grabbing the lantern, she tiptoed towards her cellar hatch and inspected the damage.

The wooden planks had several scratches on the inside and her locking mechanism was severely bent, letting the early morning sun filter through. With some force and wiggling she could fully close it with her good arm. Panting from the exertion and pain, took a moment to move closer to the wolf and watch him breathe before heading towards the stairs.

A glint from the floor caught her eye at the last second when the lantern’s light bounced off a shiny object. Reaching down past the sleeping giant, she picked up a solid black dagger and then noticed a small leather bag next to it with large gaping holes. She quickly grabbed that as well, wary when the wolf shifted.  Once the mass stopped moving again, she slowly backed away towards the stairs. With minimal noise, the alchemist had made it back up to the cellar door and carefully closed it behind her.

Levy slumped against the door, taking a deep breath and collect her thoughts from the very interesting night. “Need to look at my arm,” she mumbled to herself as a dull throb crept up to her shoulder. Lifting off the door, she walked towards the work table to begin.

Curiosity would have to wait on the wolf’s things, for as soon as she saw her arm, she knew that it immediately needed attention. Blood crusted over several puncture marks as streaks of dried blood raced down her arm. The skin was swelling slightly around the darker circles, puckering at the rims and oozing fresh blood when she flexed.

She winced as she fetched a damp towel and started dabbing at the wound to get a better look. Under all the blood, there were four clean puncture marks where the wolf’s canines had snapped on her and a small line trailing from them from his other teeth. 

“Really did a number on me…,” she hissed through clenched teeth.

Looking through her stock of vials, she pulled out some alcohol and a salve that would help lessen infection. Then she grabbed the leather strap she used for carrying large flasks, some fresh gauze, and a fresh damp cloth. Biting down on the strap, she began washing the wounds.

Her skin throbbed painfully and became blistered angrily as she sopped the blood around the still oozing wound. Once finished she set the cloth on the table under her arm and poured the bottle of alcohol over the bite. Immediately, fire danced under her skin and a long, pained groan escaped from between her teeth.

After some of the burning lessened and some deep breathing, she dabbed what didn’t evaporate on the cloth and reached for the salve. Once applied, it felt chilling against her reddened skin and all that was left was to bind it all.After wrapping the gauze, Levy spit out the leather bit and panted from the shooting pain. She threw the soiled cloths into a basket, leaving the alcohol, knife and bag on the table.

Her thoughts darted to the huddled wolf in her basement and his odd behavior. It was clear that the storm influenced him. Sure, she would be wary of him for a while, but the look of fear made her think the wolf didn’t mean to hurt her. He seemed beyond the point of terrified, and someone in a dark house touching him probably didn’t help matters.

Taking a deep breath, she attempted to push past the shooting pain as her eyes lingered towards the badly damaged leather bag. Curiosity peaking, she pulled the leather cord holding it together and reached in. She touched something long and flat, delicately pulled it out, and gasped.

In her hands was a tattered leather journal. “Why were you carrying this?” Flipping it open, she eagerly read the first page.

_Property of Gajeel Redfox: P.S. Lily If I catch you near this, I will not let you live to see tomorrow._

“Gajeel Redfox… I feel I’ve heard that name before,” Levy pursed her lips and tried to think of anyone she may have known but came up blank, opting to continue reading. As she read the scrawled handwriting, she could only imagine that this belonged to a young boy and kept for several long years by its condition. Turning the page, she kept reading.

_Dad gave me this stupid thing to write my thoughts so I don’t go blabbing them out loud. Something about learning filters and not to piss people off._

Levy couldn’t help but giggle at the boy’s indignation and continued reading. The small boy confided about his troubles, mostly with someone named Lily. There were a good few notes too, mostly about how the boy’s adopted father taught him something new and cool.

This went on for a bit until one of the pages looked discolored with tear stains and what looked like blood or dirt. The lettering was chaotic and emotional like he had to stop to breathe between sentences.

_Dad was supposed to be home three days ago from his trip. We finally found someone to come with us to look for him and found him… They said it looked like a witch attack based on the wounds. A strong one. They drug us away from him… I don’t know what Lily and I are going to do. He’s all we had… They said they would give us his ashes later… This can’t be real… This is all some shitty dream…_

A tear rolled down Levy’s face as she mourned with the boy through the pages. The next few entries were less frequent and were mostly them trying to figure out what to do. They traveled a bit trying to find a place to stay and eventually turned to mercenary jobs, mainly menial ones to get money.

A couple of interesting things happened through those entries. One was on their way to Magnolia for work. They ran into a burnt caravan and found a girl wandering by herself in the wreckage. Apparently, she was not making sense and inconsolable until the boy finally started singing a lullaby in his adoptive father’s tongue. She soon fell asleep and they carried her to Magnolia, but didn’t mention what happened to her after.

Another interesting event was their first job in Magnolia. They had to retrieve a relic being delivered from Hargeon and were attacked by a troll. Levy had to re-read that entry several times to come to terms that two boys barely teenagers were taking on a real troll. The good news is that they were successful, but both had bad injuries that kept them in Magnolia for several weeks.  The alchemist couldn’t help but snicker at all the complaining and grumbling the boy wrote about the town’s doctor.

Before she could read more, a bell chimed on her door. Glancing up, she saw the familiar barmaid waving and smiling at her through the window. Swiftly, she tucked the book away under her work table and donned a light jacket before rushing to the door to let Mira in. 

“Morning Levy!” the barmaid chimed, “You seem rather alive for the time of day.” She made her way inside and handed the bluenette a flask with a familiar scent. Inhaling deeply, she grinned at the concoction.

“Aww you are too kind, Mira! It has been an interesting night,” Levy beamed. “I have some more crushed rosemary and chamomile for you.” The alchemist walked over to a storage shelf by the cellar door and pulled out two jars of heavily scented herbs with red ribbons tied to them. When she turned around, she was stunned by the look on Mira’s face.

The barmaid was intently staring at the black dagger Levy forgot to put away. Her face was blank and pale, eyes glistening and body trembling when the bluenette rushed to her. “Mira, what’s wrong?” Levy set the jars down and wrapped her arms around the shaking woman, unnerved to see her friend in this condition.

“Levy,” the barmaid started with a shaky breath, “Where did you get that?”

She lifted a wobbly finger towards the black blade and gazed into Levy’s eyes with deep sorrow, but also a glint of hope as the tears started.

In a small voice, Levy replied, “I found it. Do you know who it belongs to?” She had a feeling who it was connected to but needed confirmation.

A small sob escaped from Mira, “A man named… *Hic* Black Steel Gajeel…” She collapsed onto the floor and sobbed uncontrollably, shuddering violently.

“Mira!” Following her to the floor, Levy hugged her friend and let her tears dry before pressing for more. “Who was he? Was he one of your comrades?”

“He was a mercenary, one of two that would do odd jobs around the town.” Mira gave a small sniffle, “They were brutes and always picked fights, but were some of my closest friends and best patrons for a while.”

The barmaid gave the alchemist a sad smile. “They disappeared a little bit after Lisanna did. I guess I’m still not ready to move on.”

Levy helped her friend get off the floor and gave her another comforting hug, “I’m sorry, Mira. I didn’t know you went through such a loss recently.”

The barmaid gave another weak smile, “Well we aren’t sure what happened to any of them, they just never came back. Elfman thinks the boys ran off, and if that’s the case I think I’ll smack them a few times for the worry.” Levy handed her the jars of herbs and hugged her again.

“You must have really liked them to threaten them,” the alchemist teased, earning a small giggle from Mira.

“I did very much. This was before Lucy moved back here from her wanderings, so you weren’t really at the bar much during that time. I wish you could have met them, though, I would have enjoyed watching you throw things at them too.” Another sad giggle escaped from Mira as she took the jars and started to head out the door.

“I’ll take your word for it,” the bluenette grinned before another thought tugged at her, “Oh, Mira? Did Gajeel own a dog?”

The platinum-haired woman’s nose scrunched as she thought, “No… I don’t think he did. He would have complained about it otherwise.” Mira glanced towards the desk once again to look at the knife, “Levy, would you mind if I take that?” She nodded at the black steel dagger.

“No, I don’t. Please do,” the girl solemnly nodded. The barmaid warily grasped the dagger and her jars and started for the door. “Bye, Mira. I will drop by at some point, and thanks for the brew.” Mira only nodded and walked out the door with a small sniffle, staring at the knife in her hand.

Levy watched as her friend left her view, sitting back behind her table to digest what she just learned. “Maybe he wrote more about what was going on?” she asked herself and plucked the journal out to search for more answers.

Going back to the spot she left off, Levy continued to read the journal well into the day. The boys grew older and bolder, taking on odd and sometimes dangerous jobs. She finally found a mention of Mira when the woman finally let them stay in the bar. Gajeel didn’t seem to mind the threats she sent their way and had the gall to taunt her a few times.

“Gajeel you are so stupid picking a fight with Mira,” chuckled the bluenette.

On the last entry, Gajeel wrote that he found an interesting job to take down a giant snake and they were going into the deep wood to track it. He talked about Mira’s warning about witches.

Then nothing. The next page was blank, so was the one after.

Levy groaned, she hated unfinished books. Setting the journal down, she stretched her stiff muscles, pulling at her wrap. Wincing, she tightened the linen and leaned back in her chair to think. Through the whole journal there was nothing about a dog or wolf so how did the beast downstairs have his things?

Sighing, Levy looked towards the cellar door and made up her mind to check on the poor wolf locked down there. Grabbing a lantern and some dried meat, she made her way to the door and took a deep breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG WE ARE SO CLOSE TO THE FIRST ARC'S END. LIKE ONE OR TWO UPDATES. I'M EXCITE. *coughs* ehem...  
> Thank you all for following my story so far! Things are picking up and getting interesting!


	14. Escaping Twilight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gajeel wakes up in an unfamiliar place at the wrong time of the month.

Gajeel stirred from his slumber smelling lavender, ink, and… blood?

Opening his eyes, he saw darkness and felt some kind of fabric was covering him. Slightly panicked, he tried to get out but quickly found that his front legs were pinned.

_What the hell happened?_

He rolled around for any opening before he noticed that his back legs were out in the open. Using them as support, he tried to wiggle out of the fabric trap with some success. He managed to loosen the fabric under his legs and began to back up to get his head out. After a few minutes of tangling and untangling, he finally breathed fresh air.

Where ever he was, it was still dark. Sniffing around, he gathered there were a lot of herbs here, lots of… lavender.  There was still the blood hanging around too. Licking his lips, he found the source of the smell.

_Shit._

A door opens above him, flooding the room with light. Blinded, he backed up to a nearby wall and whined. Slowly his eyes adjusted until he saw a blue-haired figure standing near the stairs.

 _Levy? How…?_ Suddenly, it hit him where exactly he was. Not only that, he saw a bandage crawling up one of her arms that smelled like fresh blood and a gross mixture of herbs.

 _No…shit._ She was timidly standing away from him with a worried look.

Levy could tell that the light disoriented the wolf and cautiously approached him. A couple of meters away the wolf began to whine pitifully and lowered himself to the ground, ears flat. “It’s okay, boy. I’m not going to hurt you,” she soothed.

 _That should be my line. I’m so sorry…_ “That storm really scared you this morning, huh?” _Storm? I kinda remember one, but not much else._

Levy slowly reached towards him, looking for any sign of panic before putting a hand near his nose. Hesitantly, Gajeel touched his nose to the girl’s hand, who then let out a large sigh of relief. _Was she expecting something else?_

She reached farther and started petting his head. The bluenette seemed much more at ease now, prompting Gajeel to lift his head and sit up. He started taking in his surroundings and saw the shelves lining the wall and the quilt that looked to be what was covering him before. There were fresh blood stains on the part that looked to be where his head was. His ears drooped again and Levy followed his gaze.

“It was just a scratch, nothing to be worried about,” she murmured reassuringly. “You were pretty scared last night so I know it wasn’t something you could help.”

Gajeel went slack-jawed. He knew how much force he could put in a bite and saw the amount of blood. _That wasn’t just’a scratch, Shrimp._ “Shhhh… It’s okay wolf,” Levy soothed at the whimpering mass of fur. _I don’t understand._

Reaching around, Levy procured the dried meat and offered it to the wolf. Gajeel didn’t take it from her, still stuck on the fact that he bit her. Granted, he doesn’t remember it, but still feels responsible.

Levy snapped her fingers in front of his nose and finally got his spiraling attention. She offered the meat a second time and the wolf gingerly took it but then set it down in front of him.

“Oh…Kay,” Levy said puzzled. The wolf snorted and then looked like he remembered something, twirling in his spot and digging under the quilt.

 _Shit, where did they go? Did I drop them last night?_ Something registered to Levy, “Oh! Are you looking for the bag and knife? Though I have no idea what you were doing with stuff like that.” The wolf stared at her with large eyes and then nodded. _Well at least I didn’t lose them._

“I’m sorry, but I can only give you the bag back,” Levy said sheepishly.

 _WHAT? DO YA KNOW HOW EXPENSIVE THOSE KNIVES ARE?_ Gajeel was barking loudly and Levy did what she could to stop him by booping his nose.

The wolf stopped in complete astonishment and she held a finger to her lips, “Shhhh! I don’t want the whole town to know you’re here!” The wolf complied with a grumble and snort.

_Fine. But you owe me if you lost that knife._

“Good boy. I’m sorry, but a friend of mine came over and saw it. She said it reminded her of one her missing friends. Also said she was going to beat him when she saw him again.” The wolf’s ears perked.

_That sounds like Mira…_

Levy picked up the piece he dropped and offered it to him again. “Please eat. You were very… energetic this morning.”

_Fineeee…_

He carefully grasped it out of her hand and ate it while staring at the bluenette. “Good boy!” she enthusiastically rubbed his ears and Gajeel was trying his best to look annoyed at how… not … amazing that felt.

She winced slightly as she pulled on her bandages while petting him, something he didn’t miss. “Well I better go out and get you some more meat. You may be staying her a bit longer until all the storms pass.” She gracefully sat up and started heading towards the stairs while Gajeel just sat there with that tidbit of news.

 _No… I need to get out to the woods before sundown, but if what she says is true… This full moon is going to suck badly._ He looked towards the cellar door, saw it was locked, and then looked towards the other exit the girl was heading up to.

He quickly fell in line behind her and was met with resistance. “You may want to stay down here. There is less a chance anyone will see you.” The wolf huffed and pushed past her through the now open door. “Wait!” and she tried to wrap her arms around him, but he was too fast.

Gajeel explored the place for any and all exits. He could see why she gathers so many plants from the forest now. Usually only Lily came in here to pick up their poisons and salves so now he also understood why he didn’t recognize her at first.

 _Why does she smell like ink though?_ Sniffing, he gathered a stronger whiff of it up another set of stairs and headed that direction.

Levy was trying to desperately cover her window with a blanket as she saw the wolf start heading up towards her bedroom. “Why couldn’t you just stay downstairs?” She quickly dropped the fabric and ran up after the wolf that pushed her door open.

Gajeel understood now. Oh, did he understand. 

The shrimp’s walls were nothing but bookshelves, and books were lined up in front of the bookcases as well as in piles on almost every open surface. He trotted over to her bed where a window was covered by a sheer white curtain and hopped up onto the soft bedding.

“What are you doing?” Levy gasped trying to pull him off her bed.

Gajeel looked very pleased with himself and became dead weight so he couldn’t move.

 _I’m enjoying the view._ After a couple minutes of unsuccessful pulling and pushing, Levy pinched the bridge of her nose. “Fine… Just don’t destroy anything.”

 ** _Gi-Hee_**.

She gave an aggravated huff and started towards the downstairs door. “Just stay here okay? I’ll be right back and I don’t need people seeing you.”

Gajeel watched from the window as Levy left the building towards the evening market and started to work on his best plan to escape. The front door was too public, the cellar door was locked, and there were two windows upstairs that he might be able to jump from.

He nudged both and found the one across from the alchemist’s bed and was unlocked and facing behind the house. It swung open easily when he pressed hard enough. Poking his head out, he looked down and saw that it would be a decent jump but not one he hasn’t done before. The sun hit his face as he withdrew his head and his breath caught in his throat.

 _I need to leave, NOW._ The sun was dangerously close to the horizon. _I’m just going to have to leave my stuff here, not like I can’t find it later._

Taking a deep breath, he climbed up to the window sill and leapt. The landing wasn’t bad, but wasn’t great either, at least until he heard the sharp gasp next to him. Turning, he saw a pale Levy with wide eyes.

 _Damn, wasn’t fast enough._ He immediately turned tail and ran as fast as he could away before she could stop him.

“WAIT!”

_Sorry Shrimp._

He ran until he felt the familiar tingle that always happens when the moon calls him. Gajeel started to buckle under the loss of air from hyperventilating, quickly losing his balance. At some point he stopped near a grove of thick bushes and crawled deep under them. He let loose a loud howl as his world turned to the same familiar black he sees every month.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO... things are getting interesting XD This is a shorter chapter bc the next one is the arc's final chapter!!! Then I'm taking a small break from Wolfsteele while I plot out the rest of the second arc. It should only be a month, but I'm setting a hard date by the first of April, no fools joke.  
> Posting a day early bc I'm now working on 3 fics... and may forget... anyway, one is a Kacchako fic called, 'Miss Murder's Escapades'   
> Let me know what you think!!


	15. Transformation and Realization

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> O.O You now know what happens during the full moon! Also its the Finale of Arc I!

Levy didn’t understand.

Sure, the wolf was a wild animal, but why was he running from her? She even went out to grab food for him and she comes back to find him jumping out of her second-story window. It just didn’t make sense, especially how food driven he was.

She tossed her basket near her door and sprinted after the wolf. Something was wrong. Her curiosity told her it was important.

The twilight was waning fast as the sun started to dip below the horizon, and soon she lost sight of the fleeing wolf. She cursed her short legs and kept going in the direction she saw him last, hoping that she could understand why he was running when he knew he was safe.

Desperate, the alchemist scanned the area to relocate him or any sign of him… until she heard a howl. It was low, eerie, and hauntingly mesmerizing, like it was filled with magic.

Snapping out of her stupor, Levy made a beeline towards the source of the howl, sure that she wasn’t the only one to hear it. She travelled a good distance before she spotted a faint glow ahead of her. Curiosity winning out, she rushed towards it, but it dimmed before she could find the source.

She clawed her way through the thick brush, searching for any hint of her wolf friend or the glow. She was getting disheartened at the lack of any sign of either before she tripped and fell into the mud. Something was tangled around her foot.

Grumbling, she reached behind her to free her foot and then stopped dead in her tracks. The root was warm and separated at the ends. Peering closer in the fading twilight, she saw a limp foot hooked around hers.

She went still at the thought of finding a body in the woods. She glanced around, internally debating whether she should leave to find the wolf or investigate the…warm body.

She gasped at the realization.

Wolf forgotten, she crawled under the brush to see if the person was still breathing. It seemed to be a man from how muscular his leg felt and he was on his stomach. She couldn’t see very well in the twilight, but when she put her hand on his back, she noticed two things.

One, he was breathing, and two, he was bare chested. Blushing deeply, she tried to shake him awake but the man didn’t stir.

“Hey, um… sir?” Levy pushed him again more forcefully, “Can you hear me?”

Still getting no response, she started to tug him out from under the brush. “Sorry, but I can’t leave you here,” she muttered, voice straining. It took some fenagling, but she finally got the man out from under the bushes and thankfully felt that he was wearing pantaloons.

She couldn’t see him very well, but could make out thick dark hair and small metal pieces glinting in the moonlight now peeking through the trees. Taking one more look towards the direction the wolf ran, she shook her head and rationalized that this took priority.

Levy bent down and wrapped the unconscious man’s arms around her shoulders. Grunting, she stood up and did her best to lift him along with her. Now that she was standing, she saw that this man was much taller than she was. “Great…,” Levy groaned as she realized the man’s feet were going to have to drag.

Taking a deep, determined breath, she headed towards the direction of home. It was slow going, as the man was much heavier than she originally thought. She strained to carry him on her back for the better part of an hour until Levy finally made it to her door with her new guest.

She put him in a slumped pile by the door as she unlocked the door and debated where to put him. “He’s too tall to put on the couch downstairs… maybe he’s a contortionist… hmm…,” the alchemist mumbled, looking at her plush sofa. It was perfect for her, but maybe not him so much.

“I guess I could drag him to my bed… it would probably be a bit more comfortable and easier to tend to him,” Levy sighed, “I can fit on the couch anyway.” Making up her mind, she pulled the man by his shoulders into the shop.

She didn’t have time to light any lanterns, so Levy had to maneuver the unconscious body through the dark shop to the stairs. Luckily, he didn’t get caught on any snags and nothing broke. When it came to dragging him up the stairs, she had to take a step at a time to lift him just enough for his bum to make the next stair.

Finally, they were both at her bed, where Levy had to climb up on the mattress first to pull him up. By the end of it, she managed to finally get him settled on his back with only a little bit of his leg hanging off. Wiping sweat off her brow, the alchemist sat on a nearby stool to catch her breath.

Once she was done panting, she went over to her lantern to give herself some light. If the man had any pressing wounds, especially any that would render him unconscious, then she would need to treat him. It took her a minute to find the matches, but once the flame was lit she gasped at the man before her.

The stranger had long dark hair that rivalled some of Levy’s own bedhead. It framed a sculpted and tanned face full of metal piercings, several in his eyebrows, nose, and chin. Several more piercings glinted on his bare chest, and she noticed countless scars marring his skin.

She traced one up to one of his arms, seeing more of the strange piercings. Even unconscious, Levy could see the raw power behind the chiseled musculature of the oddly handsome man. This was definitely someone she wouldn’t mind knowing more about. Blushing, she scolded herself for thinking any farther of a half-naked man on her bed. 

Quickly, she scanned him for any injuries and found none. Breathing a sigh of relief, she started to take vitals.

His temperature was warm, but not overly so, and his pulse was steady. “I’m not sure what happened, but I’m glad you’re not hurt,” she sighed, mostly to herself. However, she was caught off-guard when the man made a groan and mumbled softly.

Rushing towards his face to hear better she whispered, “Hey, can you hear me okay? You are in a safe place now.”

She was not expecting his reply.

The man didn’t open his eyes but just mumbled, “Le…vy…,” before going out cold again. The alchemist gasped and clasped her hands to her face. This stranger knew her? How? He didn’t look like anyone she knew! Not sure what to do or say to an unresponsive man, she just put a blanket over him and went downstairs to think.

After several minutes of trying to rack her brain to try and remember who the stranger might be, the events of the night finally caught up to her. Fighting the fatigue, she tried to read some but ultimately fell asleep in an awkward position on the couch, still blissfully unaware who this poor soul was.

~~~

Groaning, Gajeel sat up oddly and rubbed his snout with his paw. Or at least tried to, but in actuality stabbed his nose with sharp claws. “Oww…” he groaned painfully.

A headache from hell was starting to throb like it did every month. He wiggled his digits one by one, taking note of the soreness of his tail and arse.

_Right._

He covered his eyes with his arm and laid back down… on something soft… Out of habit he took a large inhale and smelled lavender and ink again.

_Shit._

Gajeel’s ears picked up the shifting movement in the room before he heard her voice. “Um… sir? Are you awake?”

Groaning again, Gajeel shifted his shoulders before replying, “Yeah…” His voice was gravelly from disuse. He could hear her move a little closer before she spoke again.

“Oh good! I was worried you weren’t going to wake up today!” Levy’s voice cheerfully ringing in his ears. “I found you passed out in the forest last night and brought you back here to my house.”  Behind closed eyes he could only imagine the smile radiating from the bluenette, though he was more than slightly shocked.

The man coughed and cleared his throat. “You’re telling me a shrimp like you carried my sorry ass from the forest to town?” The dull thrum from his change was still wreaking havoc on his senses and usually it felt like he was hungover the whole day after.

“Hey, I’m not a shrimp!” she seethed, “And yes, I carried you all the way here. It wasn’t that hard,” she huffed indignantly.

“I don’t believe ya. Someone must have helped. I’m way too tall and heavy for a shrimp,” Gajeel gruffed. He could tell she was telling the truth, but it was too much to pass up a chance to rile her up. He nearly grinned when he heard her stamp her foot at him.

“Don’t be so rude! My name is Levy, not shrimp!” She snarled, “I don’t know why I bothered dragging your bum up to my bed when I should have just thrown you onto the couch. I hope your butt is still sore from hitting the stairs so many times.” 

_That explains that mystery._

He heard her exhale deeply through her nose and turn to leave.

“Oi! Oi! Don’t leave, shorty!” he pleaded. “I appreciate ya helpin’ me out,” he said softly and sincerely.

He heard another huff and a sigh before her voice rang in his ears again. “Your welcome, and my name is Levy, not shorty. I’m not even that short,” she grumbled.

“My leg hanging off yer bed says otherwise,” the man grinned from under his arm. He felt a pillow bounce off his chest and gasped in mock shock, “Oh no, my rescuer is injuring a poor defenseless man with fluffy objects.”

A small giggle escaped Levy before she could reign it in. “See? That’s a nice sound to hear,” he smirked, a sharp fang jutting out.

Blushing, Levy grabbed another pillow and partially hid her reddening face behind it. “Well, your rescuer would like to know a little bit more about the semi-naked man she found in the forest. What’s your name?”

_Crap… Does she know me from before? I don’t think I met her before the forest… Hmm maybe she doesn’t, then I can play this off._

Clearing his throat, he answered carefully, “My name’s Gajeel.” The large gasp told him all he needed to know.

“As in Gajeel Redfox? The hunter that went missing the past year? You know everyone in town has been wondering where you had gone!” The bluenette was talking too animatedly for Gajeel’s sensitive ears and he had to stop her soon.

“Oi, Oi! Slow down. Yes that’s my name. How do you know it?” he asked with a frown.

“Oh, umm… I read your diary,” Levy said, bashfully quiet.

_What?_

“One it’s a journal, not a diary. Two, how did you get a hold of it?” He tried to get a peek at the girl, but the room was still too bright for him to open his eyes.

“A wolf had it…,” she mumbled, “I know it sounds weird but that’s how it was. So where have you been the last year?” She was entirely too curious.

Gajeel groaned loudly again, his tail was kinking and unfortunately, he had to bear with it until she left. “So, you just read a stranger’s journal? And if you must know, I have been around the area.”

Levy’s face had lit up at the confirmation that her friend could rest easy knowing one of the lost ones was found again. “This is great! Mira will be so happy to know you’re okay!” The excited Levy rushed to her door to head out and tell the barmaid the good news, but she was suddenly engulfed by a pair of arms that held her captive.

“NO! You can’t tell anyone you have seen me!” The man’s voice rumbled in his chest that Levy’s head was pressed into.

The alchemist tried to thrash out of his hold with no success. “Why? Everyone thinks you’re dead!” the bluenette growled in confusion.

“Okay. Levy, listen. There is a reason I haven’t gone back to town.” He tried to sound soothing, but his voice was too gravelly for the desired effect.

“Let go! I don’t care why you didn’t come back, just that you are. Mira cries every time she thinks of you.”  Levy’s thrashing slowed slightly as she somberly recalled Mira in a crying heap.

Gajeel sighs deeply and loosens his hold, keeping her faced away from him. “Listen, I know yer smart. I want ya to take a good look at me and tell me why I decided not to let them know.” His voice was small and fearful as he fully retreated from her.

She whirled around on the studded man, ready to start lecturing, but stopped dead in her tracks. Levy clasped her hands over her mouth in surprise at the sight she saw.

Staring back at her were the familiar red eyes she had grown accustomed to over the past week.

**_END OF ARC I_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking with me through this fic! So I have about 1/2 of the next arc written, but stalled once I started working on other fics. I'm going to take until April to hopefully finish writing out that part and then edit as I post. I love all of you guys supporting me!


	16. Answers and Questions, Several of a Kind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levy and Gajeel get to know each other a bit more!

A range of emotions crossed Levy’s face as she continued to gaze deeply into Gajeel’s garnet eyes. He saw surprise, sorrow, confusion, curiosity, and even embarrassment as her face went completely red. She slumped down in front of her door and leaned back, hugging the pillow like it was the only thing that made sense in the world, never blinking at the man.

Gajeel rushed towards her in concern, “Well ya took that better than imagined. I figured you’d pass out.”

He knelt beside her and gave her a gentle shake. Levy then noticed something she completely missed the entire morning as she looked up into his hair. Something that was the same raven shade flicked and rotated, eagerly perked towards her.

“You have wolf ears…,” she meekly stated, feeling her body start to numb. “You’re the wolf…”

He nodded curtly. The fact that she’s still talking was a good sign so far, but he was losing her fast. “Yeah, the ears are better to hear with, and I have a tail too,” he chuckled awkwardly.

Her gaze began to glaze at the revelation and each second, Gajeel grew more concerned, “Levy, look at me.” He carefully tilted her chin, making sure not to nick her with his sharp claws, and held her attention. “If you give me some time, I can explain everything.”

She nodded then something crossed her mind and her face turned into a tomato color. “I treated you like a pet… and you saw me almost naked.”

She started to get a faraway look that Gajeel knew too well. He had to say something now to get her from going into shock.

“And it was a pretty great view to be honest. I loved the yellow panties by the way.” Brutal honesty was usually the trick that got Lily out of his moods. However, he quickly regretted this action as it worked a little too well.  The pure rage and embarrassment in her eyes made him want to desperately turn tail and run.

“YOU PERVERT!” she screeched as she smacked his hand off her chin.

Gajeel immediately pinned her arms to her sides as he gave her a strong hug before she could land another attack. “Good to see ya back, did you enjoy yer trip back to reality?”

He only caught a grumble before continuing, “Listen, I’ll tell you everything you want to know. Just please… calm… down,” he strained against her thrashing. He lessened the tension slightly as she let out a long breath. He felt her nod against his shoulder before releasing all the pressure, just leaving him barely holding his arms around her. 

Levy swallowed the lump that formed in her throat and pushed away slightly to get another look at him. “I’m not really sure what to think right now. This just all looks so impossible. People don’t turn into wolves!”

Gajeel lowered himself so that he was nearly nose to nose with her, “Tell me about it, Shrimp. Do you know how hard it was to eat raw rabbit? Or to deal with the stupid squirrels? Those bastards are ruthless.” A small giggle escaped from the bluenette as she put a hand over her mouth. He just gave her a toothy grin and watched as she composed herself.

“So how did you get turned into a wolf?” Now that the initial shock was gone, Levy’s curiosity was peaked at the mystery in front of her. Her eyes flitted back up to his ears that looked rather alert. Before he could reply, a large growl echoed around them and the man clutched his midsection as a slight shade of pink crossed his face. “Well, guess I better get you some food first.”

“It would be appreciated as fair trade…” He grunted standing up to his full height, offering a hand for the shrimp still leaning against the door. Meekly, she slipped her hand into his and felt herself lurch up from the sudden movement. Finding herself pressed against his bare torso, she quickly regained her footing and distanced herself. But not before she realized that his skin was cold. “Also, do you have any sort of shirt? It’s really cold without all the fur,” Gajeel grinned sheepishly. The bluenette shook her head as she reached behind her and handed him the red cloak he was all too familiar with.

“I’ll start making stew for dinner, try not to jump out a window this time,” the girl winked as she left the room. As the door shut behind her, Levy’s face returned to the shade of tomato as she walked down the stairs and started to work to blot out any ideas she had.

~

He knew he was blushing when she left, his face was hot and for the life of him he could not recall anyone able to make him do so. Trying to distract himself, he looked at the red fabric in his hands. Careful not to poke anymore holes into it, he wrapped himself in the cloak and looked into the nearby mirror. On her, the fabric reached well below her knees, but on him it barely covered his thighs. Sighing, he pulled the hood over his head then yanked it off as it bothered his ears too much.

_Figures she wouldn’t have anything my size. She’s practically pint-sized._

Moving over to the bed, Gajeel fell face first into the fluff. Today did not go how he was expecting it to. No one was supposed to find out, but her stubbornness played in her favor.

_Well at least she isn’t actively killing me, could be worse._

A groan escaped him as his tail made another plea for freedom, the kinks getting worse the longer he didn’t stretch out.  Readjusting, he found the hole he ripped in the pants months ago and fed his odd appendage through, pulling just enough to hear a couple bones pop. With a sigh of relief, he relaxed on the bed now that painful pulses weren’t shooting up his spine. The black fluffy reminder twitched as he shifted slightly on the soft sheets.

_Well this is definitely different… Not even the sheets at home are this nice. Much better than rock and dirt anyway._

A few minutes started to drift by when he smelled something delicious floating up from below. Immediately, the man started to drool at the thought of a homecooked meal and not raw meat. Slowly, he lifted himself off the bed with a groan and headed to the door leading downstairs.

Peeking out, he could see the blue-haired girl at the furnace with a large cauldron. The table behind her had all manners of chopped veggies, what looked to be grass, and a large bloody spot. Once she seemed satisfied with the temperature the meat was cooking at, she turned and grabbed the minced grass things and threw it in. The change in smell to the room was sudden and fascinating to the wolfman.

Curious, he moved down the stairs towards the oblivious alchemist. She turned on a dime to collect the veggies in a large bowl and expertly deposited them up into the pot, still unaware of the prowling mass inching closer. Only once the cauldron was stirred several times and extra log put on the fire did she become aware of the red-cloaked wolf sitting at her table chair.

Levy jolted slightly and clutched her bandaged arm to her chest. “You startled me,” she gasped. “Dinner should be ready in half an hour…” Warily eyeing the man giving her an odd but intense look. She bashfully looked towards the table she needed to clean to keep from staring back. He looked slightly ridiculous in the cloak that didn’t reach his knees, and she thinks he knows that from how he was fiddling with the edges.

“I’m sorry,” Gajeel spoke softly, guilt heavy on his voice. She glanced back at him and he pointed to his forearm. Looking at her own, she nodded in understanding.

She had remembered Gajeel wrote several entries about his fear of storms. In those, he described moments of time he couldn’t remember and odd places he woke up in, sometimes with injuries. She couldn’t fault him for that. Sure, her arm was throbbing in pain, but she could tell he was not all there in the panic.

“I meant everything I said yesterday, you weren’t yourself. Wounds heal, so don’t worry about it,” the girl murmured while she found a rag to start cleaning. “People tell me that I have my own issues too, especially in the morning.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him nod slightly while still fidgeting with the cloak.

“That you do, Shrimp,” the wolf agreed with a chuckle. That first morning had left a pretty amazing impression of her. He yelped when she smacked him lightly with the towel. “What? Was I not supposed to agree with ya?”

She just huffed slightly and grumbled before dumping the unused plant bits into a bin. Gajeel shivered from the wetness of the rag and took the opportunity to move closer to the pot of food. The fire felt amazing as he held his hands closer, all the smells making him wish the food would cook faster…

 _I have eaten things raw plenty of times before…_ His nose crinkled at the thought. _No, don’t need another reason for her to kick ya out…_

Sighing, he sat on the stool near the furnace to warm his furless body for a few minutes. He didn’t even realize that the bluenette left the room until the large quilt from yesterday dropped on the floor next to him.

“You looked cold…,” Levy said sheepishly. He only grunted thanks before swathing himself in the lavender scented fabric and sighing contently. “I can try to pick up some clothes for you tomorrow if you want,” she offered, noticing his contented look with the extra layer.

“Nah, don’t bother. This doesn’t last long,” gesturing towards himself. She looked at him with a puzzled look and he continued, “I’m only human-ish when it’s a full moon and turn back into the wolf for the rest of the month.” His face soured at the thought, but there isn’t much he could do about it.

“Hmm, okay…” she pursed her lips in thought, “So you started a human, but become a wolf?” He nodded as she started piecing things together. “How does that work?”

Gajeel let out a long exhale. He has been trying to put this one together for a while now. “I think it has somethin’ to do with these piercings,” he poked one with a pained look. “I don’t have them when I’m a wolf, but the fur is a different color.”

“Have you tried removing them?” It was an honest question that he knew the answer to intimately.

“No, hurts to try. I feel like I’m getting’ shocked each time.” Levy shared a sympathetic wince with him, giving the cauldron another stir that shot up delicious smells. Another grumble escaped his stomach without permission. “Sorry, it’s been awhile since I had a cooked meal.”

“No worries, it will be done soon. So how did you get all of them?” Levy queried. Not many people would willingly get the number of piercings this man had.

“Witches.” Levy let out a gasp and raised a hand to her face. “They captured my brother and I and next thing I know, I have all these. I escaped but he didn’t. Next day I was a wolf.” She had heard stories of witches in the area, but nothing comes close to turning people into animals. People had gone missing, sure, but were actually under people’s noses?

“How… How do you know your brother didn’t escape? Did you look for him?” Levy tried to be hopeful of an optimistic answer, but Gajeel’s face became dark and sad.

“I looked for him and found him.” The bluenette feared the worst and could feel her stomach sink at the thought. “He’s that freakin’ panther. The damn witches turned him in one too and he attacked me.” Gajeel held up his arm with several long scars for her to see, not what she expected in the slightest. She was happy to hear that the wolf’s brother was alive, it was better than the alternative. “They put some kind of collar on him that lets them control him and almost put one on me before I escaped.”

Levy was silent for a little while, collecting bowls and spoons as she thought this over. Gajeel’s story sounded like a nightmare. “Why didn’t you get help the first time you changed?” Her doe eyes pleaded for answers, and he couldn’t look away. 

_I don’t get ya. First, ya befriend a wolf of all things, and now yer being all casual about this._

Gajeel’s eyes narrowed slightly, “Really? Most people in town would be freakin’ out if they saw me! When the magic ban was enforced, everyone cut ties with anything magical and ostracized them. I was gone for a whole month on top of it!” the wolf ranted. Last thing he wanted was to cause a witch hunt or accused of ‘being possessed’ by the devil. He shuddered at the thought of the shadowman getting more bodies to mess with.

Startled at the outburst, the bluenette nearly dropped the bowls in her arms, but managed to regain her composure to calm the wolfman. “Hey, I understand why most of the townsfolk would run from you, but you know that your friends at the bar would have probably helped regardless.” She returned to the aromatic cauldron and started to ladle out some stew into the bowls.

Perking up, she realized that the man had grown quiet and turned to hand him a bowl. His head was bowed and eyes aimed at his hands with a far-away look. They looked nearly human, but with the nails curving into sharp, pointed claws that stood dark against his tanned skin. Carefully she sat the bowl in his hands to gain his attention, finally letting go when she felt the weight lifting and he looked at her with sorrowful eyes.

Finally, he sighed, “I’m a stubborn asshole.” He held the warm wooden bowl for a bit, tapping his claws along the side.

Levy had gotten her share as well and sat on the floor next to him, stealing part of the quilt for her own bare shoulders. Settling down, she gave him a small smile. Even as a wolf, she knew he had a bit of a mean streak, but seeing him like this made her heart break a little.

“I know I coulda’ve come back to them, but I was ashamed to.” Gajeel took a deep breath, “It was my fault for losing my brother and I couldn’t face them until I got him back, especially with Mira.” He grew quiet again and stared into the fire.

A chilled silence settled, despite the fire and quilt.

Finally breaking the silence, Levy murmured, “I can only imagine what you went through. Even though Jellal and I aren’t close as it seems you two were, I would still be lost if he didn’t come back one day.” She missed the shock on Gajeel’s face as she stared at her bowl, “I admire your stubborn dedication to your brother, but you really should try to find help where you can. I know most of the regulars at the She-Devil would have dropped what they were doing to assist.”

She turned towards him with a reassuring glance when she saw wide eyes and a dropped jaw from the wolf. “What?” she asked with confusion as she glanced around to figure what caught his eye.

“Yer Jellal’s little sister?” The bewilderment in his tone was very evident and Levy cocked her head with more confusion.

“Yeah? Though we are adopted siblings.” The bluenette’s face grew red as a sudden thought crossed. “Wait, he didn’t tell the guys about the time with the bear, did he?” She looked desperately at the wolf for confirmation or denial.

A blush spread through his face as well and all was confirmed. “I… Uh… Maybe he did… But, from what I recall that was over five years ago, right? And you got your clothes back in the end.” Levy had all but turned several shades of red and started to withdraw under the quilt in embarrassment. Gajeel couldn’t help but give a nervous chuckle at the retreating lump and gently lifted the blanket high to encourage her to come out.

Seeing escape as useless, the alchemist glowered into her bowl, “I’m going to put a laxative in his beer when he comes back.” Gajeel scoffed an approval and pulled the blanket to an acceptable amount covering the girl. Finally, she resettled on the edge of the near blanket fort and took a bite of stew.

Following suit, the wolf finally took a bite himself and nearly sighed from bliss as real food touched his tongue for the first time in months. The meat was so tender that it practically melted in his mouth and the broth was spiced perfectly. Nothing Lily or their father had made even comes close to what this shrimp has done. “Mavis… How did you make it taste so good?”

“Oh! I just added rosemary, basil and some thyme. I think the flavors mix pretty well with the vegetables,” Levy said with bright eyes.

“Was that the grass stuff you added? And how do you add time to stew,” Gajeel asked while gorging himself on the meal. 

The alchemist let out a small laugh, “No, not that kind of time. I’m talking about herbs, and I guess it must look like grass to those who aren’t used to identifying them.”

“Well it did look like some sort of bouquet in your basket a few days ago,” he said nonchalantly before drinking the rest of his broth.

“It was more than just flowers,” the girl giggled looking at the wolf’s sullen face, “Here.” She held out for his bowl as she set hers down. Gajeel timidly handed it to her as she stood up towards the cauldron. “I can show you in a minute!” she beamed. After ladling more stew, she handed him the bowl and dashed upstairs before he could thank her.

A loud series of thuds could be heard after a few seconds and then the bluenette reappeared at her door clutching a large leather book that looked ready to burst. Gajeel had a good idea what it was once the smells hit him.

“Oi, Oi, I didn’t need another repeat of the basket case,” he complained, nose twitching. She just huffed in response as she resettled on the ground beside his stool with the book.

She took a quick bite from her bowl and returned to the giant book on her lap. “This is my plant collection. Every time I see a new one, I add it here,” the alchemist beamed.

 She animatedly started flipping through the pages to show the ones in the stew and Gajeel could only stare in awe at the pure passion Levy was showing. He wasn’t even sure if he was passionate about anything, much less to the level she was expressing.

Suddenly, a familiar smell hit him while she flipped through the pages. “Wait a sec’,” he said with nosed scrunched as he reached down to flip the pages back. Stopping on a particular sprig with purple flowers in a peculiar hooded shape, “What is that one?”  He couldn’t make out the small lettering around the dried plant and debated moving closer to see.

“That one? Its Monkshood, or I guess another name is Wolf’s Bane.”

“That’d make sense. I got nicked by an arrow with that stuff and couldn’t stop vomiting for days and then my face felt weird,” the wolf recalled during one encounter with another hunter.

“Really? As a wolf or man? And when you say ‘felt weird’, do you mean numbness, tingling or burning?” she queried with an air of curiosity.

He swallowed a lump of potato that nearly caught in his throat from her sudden line of questions. “Wolf? And I guess a lil’ bit of everything? It took about three days before I felt better. Why?” He warily eyed her from his perch, shoving another bite of food in his mouth as she ran to her desk.

She returned with a bottle of ink and a striped quill pen, “It’s important to know some of the effects of these plants. I can’t just keep making poisons and salves with the ingredients blindly and I can’t test them on anyone either, so I just write down what I hear. Your accounts might be somewhat biased but more accurate since your nose is better.” Levy continued in the small lettering to add the wolf’s details and then labeled it ‘~G’ at the end. Gajeel could only gape in confusion.

“Granted, yer last statement is true, but are you just going to make a better poison to kill me?” he snapped. This time it was Levy’s turn to look confused and took her a moment to process what he was saying.

“What, no!” she gasped in horror, “It’s to help make antidotes for these plants! The poisons I make aren’t meant to kill animals, only to slow or discourage them! It wouldn’t do to eat anything that had lethal amounts of poison in its system.” The wolf kept eyeing her, trying to sense any hint of deception.

Finding none, he sighed deeply but the worried look on Levy’s face never left. Her voice was small, and his twitching ears barely caught it, “What if I made a mistake mixing someone’s order? I don’t know what all these can do…” He grimaced at the small alchemist, her state of mind not sitting well with him.

Levy felt a shift in the blanket’s weight and turned to see the dark-haired hunter on the floor next to her with a reassuring look. “Hey, shrimp. Don’t get so down. You do great work, and look,” he gave a toothy smile while pointing at her book, “Yer trying to understand things to make it better, and if ya want, I can fill in a few gaps.”

The look of pure admiration that bloomed on the alchemist’s face made the wolf’s heart stutter slightly. Eyes regaining the previous passion, she smiled widely, “Really? That would be amazing!”

The wolf held a clawed hand up to briefly stop her spiraling curiosity, “But in all honesty, yer book reeks and I need time to get used to all the smells.” He offered a small grin as she gave an understanding nod and proceeded to down the rest of his meal.

Levy sat the book down by her side and started to reach for her bowl when she felt something move behind her. She jumped slightly with a yelp and then felt the space behind her. Her hand found something large and soft. In return, she heard a yelp from Gajeel and then choked coughing. The mass in her hand ripped free as she looked under the blanket behind her. In the firelight, she saw something long and furry leading towards the man in her red cloak. “What is that?” she squeaked.

Once the coughing died down, Gajeel looked at her with an incredulous stare. “What’s it look like, short stuff, because I know I told ya. Besides I should be asking why yer just grabbing it?” He ended with a huff. Levy just stared at it with a shocked curiosity that Gajeel was beginning to fear.

She reached for it again, and he responded by curling his tail around himself out of the bluenette’s reach. “Amazing,” she mumbled. A little louder she asked in a rush, “Do you have full control over your tail? How does it feel? Does it help with balance?” Her eyes were twinkling with pure excitement and he was considering stuffing his tail back in the pants.

“Woah, calm down, shorty!” he growled, protectively pulling part of his tail in his lap. “Ya don’t see me tryin’ to poke an’ prod yerself.”

There was a slight hurt in Levy’s eyes, but she understood. “Sorry, that was rude,” she murmured, tucking her hands under her thighs. She let out a sad sigh, “My curiosity gets the better of me sometimes and I don’t realize that its bothersome to others.” She reached for her bowl and started nibbling on her stew again, staring into the fire.

After minute or so of silence, Gajeel spoke up in a quiet voice, “It took me about two days to get used to it as a wolf, and two months as a human.” Levy turned towards him with wide eyes and kept quiet to encourage him to continue. “Once I figured it out, it became like second nature to balance and I didn’t think much of it. I have a decent range of motion with it.” He curled the black mass behind him and straightened it before wrapping it around himself again.

The passionate curiosity was back in the alchemist’s eyes, but she tried to subdue it as the wolf showed his tail to her. “I guess that’s why you were able to hit me with an acorn, huh?” she mused before drinking the last of her broth.

He started to laugh heartily at the memory, “Gi-hee. It took me three months to learn how to do that and your face was priceless!” Levy gave a playful huff as he continued, “I kept having a family of squirrels follow me around the forest throwing acorns and had to defend myself.”

It was the bluenette’s turn to giggle, “Squirrels? You had to defend against squirrels?” She had to stifle another giggle as he clutched his heart in mocked pain.

“Ya wound me, Shrimp!” he groaned playfully, a small smile at the edge of his lips. “Ya haven’t known fear until a bunch’a rogue squirrels gang up on ya.” Another round of giggles erupted from the bluenette as she shifted to face the man more.

“Why were they attacking you?” she managed between giggles.

A slight shade of pink touched his cheeks while he rubbed his neck, “I might’a tried to eat one, and now they haunt me when I’m in that part of the woods. If I had known how brutal they were, I would’a went after somethin’ else.”

Levy tried to hold it in, but the flood of giggles couldn’t be stopped at the thought of an army of squirrels chasing a big bad wolf. “So the sole reason to learn to use your tail was to fend against tiny rodents with bushy tails?”

Gajeel turned a deeper shade of pink and dramatically ‘fell’ to the floor on his back. “Let the world know, this is where Black Steel Gajeel took his final breath as the cruel Shrimp murdered him with her ruthless words.” He reached skywards with a croaking sound and then his arm limply fell over his face. This just renewed the giggling and the wolf couldn’t help the smile twitching on his face to hear her.  “Glad you enjoyed the performance, I’ll be here all night.”

“Oh! We need to figure out where you’re sleeping tonight!” the alchemist grinned. “What about the basement? I can get you some more pillows and blankets down there.”

Arm still over his face, the wolf responded, “Nah, there are too many smells down there for me to sleep. The last time, you had a blanket over my head. What if I made a pallet in here?”

Levy frowned at the memory, “Right, and sorry. That isn’t going to work.” She looked at her salve vials on the shelf. “I have people coming in morning to pick up some orders, so you can’t stay down here if you don’t want people knowing about you. You can take my bed again, besides the couch is pretty comfy for me.”

Gajeel lifted his arm to give her a hard stare, “What kind of man would I be to steal a lady’s bed? I’ll just sleep on the floor and be fine.” She gave him a questioning look. “It’s honestly better than dirt and yer bed is too short, Shrimp,” he smiled slyly at the obvious offense in her face.

“I’m not short…,” the bluenette grumbled, standing up to collect the dishes to clean. “Give me a few minutes to clean up and get the bedding ready.”

Gajeel grunted an approval and sat up closer to the dying fire, watching the alchemist flit around.  She first washed and dried the bowls, then got a large ceramic container. Curious, he watched with interest as she filled the jar with the remains of dinner and tucked it into a cache under the floor that seemed to be lined with ice blocks.

“What is that?” he pointed to the storage compartment.

“This? It’s an ‘ice-box’ that I had specially built for storing the some of the mixes that have are sensitive to temperature. It helps some fragile salves keep longer and I found out, it does the same for food,” she explained with a smile and then dashed towards the basement door. 

Gajeel took the time to look around the place. It was a cozy set up that obviously catered towards her short stature. Vials and jars covered the walls, lined up on shelves of various styles and lengths with labels posted along the wood. Gathering up the quilt, he pulled it closer as the dying fire started to lose heat. Then he noticed the large leather book the alchemist had forgotten, hidden by the mass of fabric. Carefully, he reached over and held it in his lap, feeling the bound leather under his fingers.

_I need to ask her where my journal is eventually._

Sighing, he opened the book to the first page. The lettering seemed to be done professionally with flowing lines and confident loops. Luckily, the elegance didn’t cloud his ability to read as he glossed over the title page.

**_A Collection of Plants and Characteristics by Levy McGarden._ ** _Hmph, McGarden, huh? Suits her._

He turns the page and sees a desiccated yellow flower next to a stem with white fuzz barely holding on. Both were expertly sewn to the page and the word “ ** _Dandelion_** ” was written above them. The rest of the page described where and when it was found, descriptions of what it and its seeds look like, and its blooming cycle that the author could determine.

 It was very detailed and elaborate compared to some of the books he had seen before, and even much more than his scrawled journal. Turning the page, he browsed the first few plants, noting familiar smells mentally.

A few minutes pass and the alchemist is carrying a wobbly pile nearly as big as herself through the door frame. “Woah, there. Let me help ya, shrimp,” Gajeel barked, jumping towards the walking ball of fluff, book still in hand. She reluctantly let him grab a few pillows before leading the way up to the bedroom.

She directed him towards an empty space that hopefully would be big enough for him to fit comfortably. Within a couple minutes, he had a nice warm nest of fluff to curl in and he sighed contently before he remembered the book he brought with him.

“Oi, Shrimp,” he called to the bluenette. She had ran to her washroom to change into more comfortable sleeping clothes. Unfortunately, he was stuck with what he had, but with the blankets he felt he wouldn’t need the cloak and hung it on one of the many hooks in the house.

“Yeah?” she chirped as she opened the door a crack.

“I can help ya with some of these, if ya want,” he held up the leather book and watched as she smiled brightly before closing the door. There were rushed sounds and thuds before she emerged from the wash room, wearing a dark shirt and some pantaloons.  Gajeel patted the spot beside him and that sparkle came back to her eyes before she held up a hand.

“Give me a moment!” she grinned, and ran downstairs. Within moments, she was back and sat down with her ink and pen. “Okay, I’m ready!” she said excitedly. “Thank you for this!”

“Yer welcome, I just asked to be paid in food. Gi-hee,” he chuckled and she scoffed and rolled her eyes. Her enthusiasm was impressive to say the least, but he liked seeing her riled up.

They sat there going through a good chunk of the book for a couple hours. Gajeel would sniff one, then tell her if and how it helped or harmed him. She would write intensive notes, tell him what she had already found, and the cycle would continue for each page. He mentally kept track of the useful plants and memorized what they looked like while sniffing them. They had gotten through nearly thirty plants when Levy yawned loudly, forcing a yawn out of him as well.

“I think I’ll head to bed,” the bluenette mumbled. Gajeel nodded and moved the book to one of the empty spaces on a nearby shelf. It didn’t take long for Levy to crawl into her own bed and start snoring. The wolf listened to her even breathing for a while, gazing at the full moon passing by in the window until he too drifted off. The distant rumbling unheard by both sleepers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for waiting guys! I got sucked into another ship hard and they had a ship week recently, but I didn't forget you! To make it up I gave you guys a large 5.6k chunk to chew on XD The next chapter will be the same, but will be released in about 3 weeks as its going to get pretty busy for me soon. I'm excited though! Going to try doing my first Zine! But its not Gajevy :< I love you guys! Enjoy!


	17. Thunderstorms and Soft Comfort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levy does her best to alleviate some of Gajeel's fear.

*Boom*

Levy awoke to a loud crack, shaking the house, and an equally loud yelp. She bolted upwards and spun her head around to find the source. She heard the pitter-patter of rain hitting the window next to her then a bright flash.

*Boom*

Another yelp resounded from an opposite side of the room and Levy quickly clutched her quilt out of instinct. Dazed, she tried to find the source of the noise and saw a shivering black mass in the corner. Confused, she rubbed her eyes but it seemed that her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her.

“Wha...?”  She stepped down from her bed into something soft. She moved over to pick it up, a large pillow. “What is this on the floor for?” she blearily murmured.

Suddenly, the previous night’s events caught up to her and she then realized what it was in the corner. “Gajeel?” The only response was a whimper and a set of terrified red eyes glancing her way from out of the black mass. Moving closer, she could make out in the low light that he was hunched over, grasping his knees tightly.

Levy cautiously moved closer and sat near him. His breathing was erratic and shivering violently. “Hey, are you doing okay?” she asked quietly, hugging the pillow she stepped on. He just silently shook his head. “Hmmm… well whenever I got anxious, I found hugging things helped me out. Do you want to hold my pillow?” She offered, holding it out for him.

Gajeel stared at the yellow-patterned object for a couple seconds and reaches for it, but then shakes his head and withdraws his hand. “I… can’t. I don’t… wanna ruin it,” he stammered, gazing at his claws hopelessly.

“It’s okay!” Levy smiled, “I have plenty more and you really need it, so don’t worry about it.” She offered the pillow again, to which he hesitantly took it with a shaking hand after contemplating her words. Carefully, he wrapped himself around the pillow.

*Boom*

He clenched around the fluff like it’s the last lifeline he had and the alchemist swore she heard a rip but wasn’t going to worry about it now. Nothing a good needle and thread can’t solve. Unfortunately, he was still trembling badly. Feeling around with her feet, she found a crumpled quilt and pulled it towards her.

“Hey,” she spoke softly, gaining the wolf’s attention, “I’m going to put a blanket on you, okay?” Levy didn’t want any sudden movements to set him off, so she patiently waited until he nodded.

Slowly, she stood up and draped the quilt over his head and shoulders so that only his face was visible. His chest seemed to start moving a little bit slower after a few seconds and the alchemist let a sigh of relief escape.

“Okay, now I’m going to leave for a couple minutes, but I’ll be back.” Gajeel gave her a pleading stare, but eventually nodded.

Quickly, Levy left the room and rushed to her herb cabinet downstairs. Pulling out a couple jars, she poured some of each into a small woven cloth and securely tied it. Next, she found her small warming pan, lit the fire underneath, and set a filled kettle on top.

*Boom*

She cringed at the loud rumble getting closer, imagining the quivering mess upstairs. Shaking her head, she went back to task and shuffled through her food cupboard while the kettle warmed. Finally, she found the small tea cookies she saved for her anxious spells, and then pulled out two mugs from the cabinet above. She placed the treats and mugs on a small serving tray as the kettle started to whistle. Lifting it quickly, she set it on a toweled spot on the tray and dropped the small cloth bag into the boiling water. Blowing out the flame, she gathered the tray and started back up the stairs.

Gajeel was still huddled in the corner, the blanket only slightly askew. His eyes met hers as soon as she reached the door and the look of worry relaxed slightly on his face. “I brought tea and cookies!” she beamed.

*Boom*

Immediately, he buried his face into the pillow and trembled. Levy sighed, he wouldn’t be able to hold, much less drink the tea if she couldn’t distract him through the storm.

She lit one of the lanterns and looked around her room until she saw the nest of blankets and pillows. Smiling, a wonderful idea popped into her mind and she set the tray aside to start working.

First, she moved all the bedding to her bed except a single plush blanket, smoothing it down on the floor next to her bed. Next, she moved some stools and a chair, while Gajeel looked at her with confusion as she lined the blanket with pillows except in one spot. Then, the bluenette moved the blankets to the middle of the one on the floor, except one larger one.

*Boom*

The thunder was getting louder and more frequent as the main part of the storm inched closer towards them.

She spent a couple minutes stretching and pulling the blanket over everything and tucking it down using stacks of books. Gathering the tray and lantern, she went inside the structure and started moving things around. Gajeel watched the silhouette of the alchemist through the blanket as she was working, curious as to what she was doing all of this for.

Suddenly, she popped her head out of the opening and patted the ground, smiling widely at him. “It’s nice and cozy in here!” Before he could respond, another roll of thunder rumbled through.

*Boom*

As terror filled his mind, he still saw her smiling towards him.

_Safe. She’s Safe._

Gajeel attempted to take a deep breath and steeled himself to move closer to the blanket fort.  With shaky effort, he managed to crawl to the entrance, Levy still smiling brightly in the dark night. She held out a small hand, to which he timidly placed his clawed hand, and was then tugged into the structure. Following her lead, he crawled through, bringing in as much as the blanket attached to him as he could.

Inside, one of the stools was near the bed with the tray and the lantern, giving a soft glow to the pile of blankets encasing them.

*Boom*

Gajeel stopped mid-crawl and dropped onto the fluff, still clutching the pillow from earlier. Now that he was in the light, the alchemist could see the sweat covering his face and the paleness of his face. She also didn’t imagine the ripping sounds when she glanced at the pillow crushed against him. When he recovered somewhat, she patted the spot next to her near the tea kettle and lantern.

She had already set out some of the cookies and poured the mugs full of tea when she felt a thump next to her. The quilt was mostly abandoned, a trail still leading outside, and the pillow clutched in one arm. It was somewhat humourous to see the wolf slouched to keep his head from hitting the blankets above, but Levy helped direct him nearby towards the taller end of the fort where the backed chair would let him sit up more.

“Why are you helping me?” It was barely a whisper as Gajeel’s red eyes locked with Levy’s honey ones. His were full of terror and confusion with dark circles, giving him a gaunt look. His raven hair was wildly sprouting in several directions, reminding her more of his wolfish nature. “Do you pity me?” The hurt evident in his tone as he tried to maintain his prideful composure.

The bluenette just shook her head with a sad smile, “I know how powerless you feel.” Her smile softened as she remembered her own troubles. “It took me awhile to get over my fears. My father gave me ways to ignore them until one day I wasn’t afraid anymore.”

*Boom*

She saw him flinch and his ears were pinned to his head, but was impressed when he didn’t break eye contact with her. His garnet stare desperately trying to hold onto her as much as the poor pillow in his arms.

After a few seconds, he released a deep shaky breath and some tension from the yellow hostage. “I’m not scared… It’s just loud… and hard to ignore,” he grumbled, scratching his ear. Suddenly, the small alchemist started to scramble out of the fort in a hurry and startled the wolf.

“Where are ya goin’?” he whimpered.

She turned with a bright look, “Oh sorry! I’ll be right back with something that may help. Go ahead and nibble on a cookie.”

The trail of quilt also disappeared as he felt something going on top of the blanket currently above him. He had just retrieved one of the golden biscuits when another row of thunder came through.

*Boom*

He clutched the pillow in a desperate hug and noticed that even though it was still loud, the thunder sounded slightly quieter than before. Recollecting himself, he returned his attention to the crumbling cookie in hand.

A rustling sound from the entrance signaled Levy’s return. She kneeled next to the wolf and showed him a small ball of cotton in her palm. “It might be uncomfortable, but it can muffle some sound. Do you mind?” She pointed towards his ears lost in the abyss of hair. Looking between the bluenette and ball of fluff, the debate was settled when another roll of thunder passed through.

*Boom*

He nodded sharply, breathing starting to pick up. “Okay, can you lean down for me?” she asked calmly. Slowly, he obliged, eyes never leaving her face as she reached forward to find his ears.

“Do ya… always take care of… strays ya find?” Gajeel winced slightly as she detangled some hair from one of wolf’s ears. Once free, she lightly rubbed the tip of his ears while angling it to see the best way for the cotton to work. He tried not to let it show, but a small smile twitched when she touched his ears. The touch almost soothing to his frazzled nerves.

A smirk played out on her lips, “Only the ones that need it.” A strange, tickling feeling in his ear distracted him as he fought the urge to itch it out. It didn’t last long. A clawed hand reached up to scratch when it was swatted away by the bluenette. “It needs to stay in to work.” She looked down towards his face with a stern stare before feeling for the other ear.

Gajeel gave a small pout, “Why did ya think I needed help?” He grunted slightly, when another tangle presented itself.

“You need a good brush…,” Levy mumbled as she fiddled with the knot. When done, she glanced towards him with a knowing grin, “Well, you keep coming back.” Going back to work, Gajeel couldn’t help but stay silent as she messed with his ear, stuffing it similarly to the first. “How does that feel?” she asked, albeit sounding really odd.

“It sounds like I’m underwater and everything is fuzzy. That’s so weird,” the wolf mused, his voice not sounding like his own. A sound of chimes seemed to be coming from the laughing girl in front of him, then what sounded like someone dropping a heavy metal object on the ground.

Levy patted him on the shoulder with a bright smile and reached over towards the mugs. Grabbing both, she resettled next to him and offered one. “Well it must be working since you didn’t even flinch that time.”

His eyes grew wide at her meaning. He just silently mouthed ‘What?’ as she pushed the warm mug into his hands. “This will help too,” she grinned before sipping on her own. Sniffing it, he could root out a few herbs that they went through earlier, most notably lavender and chamomile. An image of a cooking pan falling onto cobblestone came to mind as another metallic sound rang in the wolf’s ears. The alchemist could only see a slight tremble as the wolf took a sip after the recent peal of thunder.

It felt like the tea was warming and relaxing him from the inside as he took sip after sip. The pans were dropping more frequently, but the loud and sharp noises were now dull and growly in comparison. The shrimp had rearranged some of the blankets into soft pillows to lay on after fetching her current book and a brush. With the tray of cookies within arms-reach, she started reading while mindlessly getting tangles out of her own hair and nibbling through her stash of sweets.

Gajeel followed suit and left his now nearly empty mug on the tray, relaxing into a more comfortable position while still hugging the pillow. He made sure to snag a few cookies before the bluenette could devour them all and stared at the creases in the blankets above him. He doesn’t remember when she started, but he became drawn to the gentle humming of that same familiar song while the alchemist continued reading.

He watched several emotions cross her face as she traveled through the book, and eventually noticed the bright yellow bandana covering her hair and brush discarded beside her. Figuring it would give him something to do other than stare, he hesitantly poked her arm and pointed towards the brush. She jumped slightly, and then followed his finger’s direction. Giving an affirmative nod, she smiled and returned to her book.

Grasping the brush, he began to groom his raven mane. It didn’t take long for him to find a knot or five as he sat there grunting, attempting to pull them apart. Noticing the struggle, Levy stifled a giggle and sat her book down to tap the wolf’s shoulder. He looked at her with a side-ways glance, and she held out her hand for the offending brush. With a defeated sigh, he relinquished it and hugged the shredded pillow companion in a pout.

Moving closer, the bluenette stroked sections of the ratted mane, humming to herself and gently tugging out the knots. “Thanks, Shrimp. Ya didn’t have to do this,” Gajeel whispered, guilt-laden eyes flicking towards the bookworm.

Levy gave him a sad smile, “What kind of person would I be if I didn’t help someone who needed it? You helped me too, and besides, I haven’t built a blanket fort in years.”

She turned back towards the task at hand and found a knot near one of his ears. She grimaced as he groaned in pain from the unavoidable tug. “Sorry, you’ll have to bear with me for a little bit while I get through this one.” He could only grunt as another pull caused a twinge of pain while she gave him an apologetic smile.

Not many people have touched his hair, much less as gently as Levy was brushing. It was soothing feeling her fingers twine through his locks and he felt himself start to relax even more. The metallic noise had mostly faded by the time she pulled most of the tangles out and had started brushing out the longer pieces in the back, humming a calming melody. 

However, Gajeel desperately wanted to scratch his ears now, and motioned silently towards his ears for fluff removal. The alchemist giggled and he felt her shift behind him, leaning up against his back.

Her fingers brushed the tips of his ears and suddenly, he could hear the world and giggling bluenette clearly. “That’s much better…,” he sighed contently as he scratched the itches tormenting him for hours.

Once he stopped moving, Levy went to work on his hair again. Or at least tried to until he shifted, laying on his stomach in front of her. It seemed the night’s events finally caught up to him as he gave a loud yawn, tucking his arms and chin around his yellow hostage. Trying again, she continued to brush the wolf’s stubborn locks, her melodious voice relaxing and lulling him.

Soon, she heard a small snore from the large man before her and smirked with slight satisfaction. She couldn’t help but run her fingers through the soft fur-like hair, but then scowled when she realized how easily the longer parts tangled. Taking the more stubborn pieces, she started braiding the wolf’s mane until she heard a knock on the door downstairs. Sure enough, she saw the sun starting to peep through the blankets from her bedside window. Carefully, she covered the snoozing man and softly walked to the window.

Peering down, she saw a couple hunters waiting to be let in. “Give me a second!” She called and both men sent her a thumbs up.  Peeking in the fort, she still saw Gajeel passed out hugging the pillow and tip-toed towards the door. Grabbing her cloak, she slipped through the wooden door and shut it behind her. Once clear, she quickly traversed the stairs to deal with customers picking up their concoctions. Sleep would have to wait a bit it seems.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I hope you enjoy this as much as I did writing it! This is one of my first major fanfics and the first arc of three is pretty much written with some minor changes, so I'm going to update once a week on Saturday or Sunday until my buffer runs out. Feel free to comment with your thoughts or message me on Tumblr @puppycatales


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